Mariano Crociata (born 16 March 1953) has been bishop of the Diocese of Latina-Terracina-Sezze-Priverno since 19 November 2013. He was previously the Secretary-General of the

Italian Episcopal Conference The Italian Episcopal Conference ( it, Conferenza Episcopale Italiana) or CEI is the episcopal conference of the Italian bishops of the Catholic Church, the official assembly of the bishops in Italy. The conference was founded in 1971 and carrie ...

(CEI), the first to come from a southern Italian

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

, and earlier served as

Bishop of Noto The Roman Catholic Diocese of Noto is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Sicily, Italy. It is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Siracusa. Monsignor Antonio Staglianò is the current bishop of the diocese of Noto. History The d ...

Early life and priesthood

Born in

Castelvetrano Castelvetrano ( scn, Castiḍḍuvitranu) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Trapani, Sicily, southern Italy. The archeological site of Selinunte is located within the municipal territory. The municipality borders with Campobello di ...

Province of Trapani Trapani ( it, Provincia di Trapani, scn, Pruvincia di Tràpani; officially ''Libero consorzio comunale di Trapani'') is a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily, southern Italy. Following the suppression of the Sicilian provinces, it ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, Crociata was ordained as a priest in 1979. He studied philosophy and theology at the Almo Collegio Capranica. He graduated from the

Pontifical Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

of Rome, where he was awarded a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

in 1987 on "Humanism and theology in Augustine Steuco" for the kinds of New Town in 1987. Crociata ran the theology of religions department at

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

's Theological School and has organised a number of conferences including many on

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. From 2003 he was

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...

of the Diocese of Mazara del Vallo.

Bishop

On 16 July 2007

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

appointed him Bishop of Noto. He was consecrated on 6 October 2007. On 26 September 2008 Benedict appointed him secretary general of the CEI to replace

Giuseppe Betori Giuseppe Betori (born 25 February 1947 in Foligno, Italy) is an Italian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the archbishop of Florence and the former Secretary General of the Italian Episcopal Conference. Early life He was ordained a pries ...

who had been appointed archbishop of Florence. Crociata was reportedly named secretary general on the recommendation of

archbishop of Genoa The Archdiocese of Genoa ( la, Archidioecesis Ianuensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Italy. Erected in the 3rd century, it was elevated to an archdiocese on 20 March 1133. The archdiocese of Gen ...

and CEI president Cardinal

Angelo Bagnasco Angelo Bagnasco (; born 14 January 1943) is an Italian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was Archbishop of Genoa from 2006 to 2020. He was President of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) from 2007 to 2017 and was elevated to the rank of ...

, who became president of the CEI in 2007. In October 2010 Bishop Crociata welcomed civil suites against priests for alleged sexual abuse. He said that "There will be no obstacles to civil proceedings. On the contrary, they would be viewed favourably," he told reporters following a meeting of the Episcopal Conference. "The Italian church acts rigorously and with the necessary attention for the victims," he added. Italian bishops say about 100 cases of sexual abuse of minors have been investigated by the church over the last decade. Critics say the number is far higher. Upon his election as pope,

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. ...

did not confirm Crociata is his CEI post and instead named him bishop of Latina-Terracina-Sezze-Priverno. In doing so, Francis returned to the practice of the early years of the CEI under

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, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

, when the position of Secretary-General was not a stepping stone to a major diocese and eventual appointment as cardinal.

References

1953 births Living people People from Castelvetrano Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Almo Collegio Capranica alumni 21st-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops {{21C-Italy-RC-bishop-stub