Giuseppe Casale (born September 28, 1923) is an Italian historian and

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Life

Casale was born in Trani, Italy and was ordained a priest on February 3, 1946. He studied theology and history, and was a professor of Church History and Italian History from 1949 to 1953 at the Catholic colleges of Trani and

Molfetta Molfetta (; Molfettese: ) is a town located in the northern side of the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy. It has a well restored old city, and its own dialect. History The earliest local signs of permanent habitation are at ...

. After this, he was publishing pastoral magazines. He was appointed bishop to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Vallo della Lucania on October 26, 1974 and ordained bishop December 8, 1974. He was appointed Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Foggia-Bovino on May 7, 1988 and remained in that post until his retirement on May 27, 1999. As a bishop, he spoke often on controversial political and theological issues, and gained a reputation as left-wing and progressive. He advocated the possibility for women to become Catholic

cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

, and suggested that the Catholic Church should not oppose state legislation on

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

and consider in the future giving “a blessing from the Lord” to same-sex couples. He also served as president of

CESNUR CESNUR (Centro Studi sulle Nuove Religioni, "Center for Studies on New Religions"), is a non-profit organization based in Turin, Italy that studies new religious movements and opposes the anti-cult movement. It was established in 1988 by Massimo ...

("Center for Studies on New Religions"). In 1993, he published a

pastoral letter A pastoral letter, often simply called a pastoral, is an open letter addressed by a bishop to the clergy or laity of a diocese or to both, containing general admonition, instruction or consolation, or directions for behaviour in particular circumst ...

, ''New Religiosity and New Evangelization'', where he challenged the prevailing Catholic attitude on

new religious movements A new religious movement (NRM), also known as alternative spirituality or a new religion, is a religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin or th ...

, suggesting that the Catholic Church should not limit itself to criticism, but reflect on why the new movements are successful, and open a cautious dialogue with some of these groups.

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Catholic-Hierarchy
1923 births Living people People from Trani 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops Roman Catholic archbishops in Italy Bishops in Apulia 20th-century Italian historians {{20C-Italy-RC-bishop-stub

Life

See also

References

External links