Giovanni Benedetti (12 March 1917 – 3 August 2017) was an Italian

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 ...

Roman 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 ...

. He was Bishop of Foligno for more than 26 years.

Biography

Benedetti was born in Spello, Italy, in 1917, ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Venice on 26 May 1940.

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 ...

named him auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Perugia and titular bishop of Limata on 12 December 1974 and consecrated on 23 January 1975. On 25 March 1976 he was appointed bishop of the

Foligno Foligno (; Southern Umbrian: ''Fuligno'') is an ancient town of Italy in the province of Perugia in east central Umbria, on the Topino river where it leaves the Apennines and enters the wide plain of the Clitunno river system. It is located ...

. He retired on 10 October 1992. As a theologian, he championed the work of

Henri de Lubac Henri-Marie Joseph Sonier de Lubac (; 20 February 1896 – 4 September 1991), better known as Henri de Lubac, was a French Jesuit priest and cardinal who is considered one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century. His writin ...

and helped popularize his work in Italy. He also wrote about the works of

Angela of Foligno Angela of Foligno (1248 – 4 January 1309) was an Italian Franciscan tertiary who became known as a mystic from her extensive writings about her mystical revelations. Due to the respect those writings engendered in the Catholic Church she be ...

, the 13th-century mystic whom Benedetti lived to see declared a saint by

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

in 2013. He served for a time as the editor of two newspapers, ''La Gazzetta di Foligno'' and ''La Voce''. As a bishop in the 1970s, he once gave an interview to the Soviet news agency, a departure from Church practice at the time. He held a diocesan synod from 1986 to 1991 to allow the laity to participate in planning and in the implementation of the principles and the Second Vatican Council. Beginning on 26 May 2016, he was the oldest Italian bishop. He died on 3 August 2017.

References

External links

Catholic-Hierarchy

Diocese site
(Italian) 1917 births 2017 deaths 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops Bishops of Foligno Italian centenarians Men centenarians {{Italy-RC-bishop-stub