Giovanni Mariani (17 June 1919 – 23 January 1991) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who spent his career in the diplomatic service of the
Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
. He had the rank of archbishop and the title of nuncio from 1967.
Biography
Giovanni Mariani was born on 17 June 1919 in
Santo Stefano d'Aveto
Santo Stefano d'Aveto ( lij, San Stê) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Genoa in the Italian region Liguria.
Santo Stefano d'Aveto borders the comuni of Bedonia, Borzonasca, Ferriere, Rezzoaglio and Tornolo.
Geogr ...
, Province of Genoa, Italy. On 21 March 1942, he was ordained a priest for the
Diocese of Bobbio
The Roman Catholic diocese of Bobbio was an Italian bishopric which existed from 1014 until 1986. The diocese was formed from the territory of the Bobbio Abbey, Abbey of Bobbio.Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in 1946.
On 16 October 1967,
Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...
gave him the general responsibilities of Apostolic Delegate to Western Africa, and then added a series of more specific assignments, beginning by naming him
titular archbishop
A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese.
By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...
Amleto Giovanni Cicognani
Amleto Giovanni Cicognani (24 February 1883 – 17 December 1973) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Vatican Secretary of State from 1961 to 1969, and Dean of the College of Cardinals from 1972 until his death. C ...
consecrated him a bishop on 3 December. He was given additional responsibilities as Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to
Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languagesDahomey (Benin) on 29 March 1972, and to Ivory Coast on 19 June 1972; and as
Apostolic Delegate
An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international o ...
to
Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...
and Mauritania on 17 October 1973.
On 11 January 1975, Pope Paul appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
.
In January 1978, he became an official in the Secretariat of State.
On 25 April 1980,
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Greece.
Mariani resigned on 5 May 1990 from that office.
He died on 3 January 1991.