Piero Marini (born 13 January 1942) is a
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
archbishop
In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...
who is president of the
Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses
The Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses is part of the Roman Curia of the Roman Catholic Church. It was erected in 1879 by Pope Leo XIII. Its statutes were last updated by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.
Aims
The purpose o ...
. For twenty years he served as Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations, in charge of the
Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff
The Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff ( la, Officium de Liturgicis Celebrationibus Summi Pontificis, it, Ufficio delle Celebrazioni Liturgiche del Sommo Pontefice) is that section of the Roman Curia responsible for org ...
. In that capacity he worked for
Pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
s
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 ...
for 18 years and
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 ...
for two years.
Biography
Marini was born in Valverde,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, and was
ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...
a priest 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 ...
on 27 June 1965. He holds 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 ...
in
liturgy
Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...
from the Benedictine-run College of
Sant'Anselmo
Sant'Anselmo all'Aventino ( en, Saint Anselm on the Aventine) is a complex located on the Piazza Cavalieri di Malta Square on the Aventine Hill in Rome's Ripa rione and overseen by the Benedictine Confederation and the Abbot Primate. The ''San ...
.
In 1975, Marini became personal secretary to
Archbishop
In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...
Annibale Bugnini
Annibale Bugnini (14 June 1912 – 3 July 1982) was a Catholic prelate. Ordained in 1936 and named archbishop in 1972, he was secretary of the commission that worked on the reform of the Catholic liturgy that followed the Second Vatican Counci ...
, the chief architect of the liturgical reforms that followed Vatican II. From 1987 to 2007, Marini was the Master of the
Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff
The Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff ( la, Officium de Liturgicis Celebrationibus Summi Pontificis, it, Ufficio delle Celebrazioni Liturgiche del Sommo Pontefice) is that section of the Roman Curia responsible for org ...
, the group responsible for organizing the details of papal liturgies and other celebrations. He was seen at the pope's side in every such celebration. He was appointed
Titular Bishop
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 ...
of
Martirano
Martirano is a village and ''comune'' of the province of Catanzaro in the Calabria region of Italy.
History
Local historians believe that Martirano was built on the ruins of Mamertum, a city of the Roman Empire. Martirano, also known as Marturano ...
on 14 February 1998 and was consecrated on 19 March by Pope John Paul II. On 29 September 2003 he was raised to the rank of archbishop.
On 1 October 2007, after Marini had served twenty years as Master, Pope Benedict appointed him president of the
Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses
The Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses is part of the Roman Curia of the Roman Catholic Church. It was erected in 1879 by Pope Leo XIII. Its statutes were last updated by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.
Aims
The purpose o ...
.
[ He was confirmed to another five-year term in that post by Pope Francis on 10 March 2015.
Three days after the death of ]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 ...
in April 2005, Marini published a guide to the rites and decision-making authority during the weeks until the election of a new pope.
In April 2013, in an interview with the Costa Rican newspaper ''La Nacion'', Marini indicated his openness to the idea of same-sex civil unions being recognised by civil law: "In these discussions, it is necessary, for example, to recognize the union of people of the same sex, because there are many couples who suffer because their civil rights are not recognized", but went on to say, "What cannot be recognized is that that couple be a marriage." He also expressed enthusiasm for the newly elected 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. ...
: "It's a breath of fresh air; it’s opening a window onto springtime and onto hope. We had been breathing the waters of a swamp and it had a bad smell. We’d been in a church afraid of everything, with problems such as Vatileaks and the paedophilia scandals. With Francis we’re talking about positive things.... there’s a different air of freedom, a church that’s closer to the poor and less problematic".[
He was confirmed for another five-year term as a member of the ]Congregation for the Oriental Churches
The Dicastery for the Eastern Churches (also called Dicastery for the Oriental Churches), previously named Congregation for the Oriental Churches or Congregation for the Eastern Churches ( la, Congregatio pro Ecclesiis Orientalibus), is a dicaste ...
in February 2014 and has headed its committee for liturgy. He was named a member of the in October 2016.
During the night of 30/31 October 2016, he suffered a stroke
A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
.
On 18 May 2020, Marini concelebrated Mass with Pope Francis for the 100th anniversary of the birth of John Paul II. The Mass was celebrated ''ad orientem
''Ad orientem'', meaning "to the east" in Ecclesiastical Latin, is a phrase used to describe the eastward orientation of Christian prayer and Christian worship, comprising the preposition ''ad'' (toward) and ''oriens'' (rising, sunrise, east), ...
'' at John Paul's tomb in St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...
.
Activity as liturgist
Marini promoted Vatican II reforms including the "simplification of rites that he believes facilitates active participation." He supports the integration of local customs into church rituals. At a celebration he oversaw in 1998, a group of scantily clad Pacific Islanders danced during the opening liturgy of the Synod for Oceania in St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...
; 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 ...
's visit to Mexico City in 2002, an indigenous Mexican shaman
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...
performed a purification ritual on the pope during Mass.
In July 2007, when Pope Benedict gave broader permission for the celebration of the 1962 Tridentine Mass
The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Traditional Latin Mass or Traditional Rite, is the liturgy of Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church that appears in typical editions of the Roman Missal published from 1570 to 1962. Celebrated almo ...
, Marini said that it "does not intend to introduce modifications into the current Roman Missal
The Roman Missal ( la, Missale Romanum) is the title of several missals used in the celebration of the Roman Rite. Along with other liturgical books of the Roman Rite, the Roman Missal contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the m ...
nor to express a negative judgement on the liturgical reform desired by the Council" and described it as "a gesture at the service of unity". Marini has said he is "not nostalgic for what he regards as the repetitive nature of the old Mass, neither the exaltation of the celebrant to the detriment of the people of God; and he deplores the marked split between the priest and the assembly."
When leaving his post at the Office of Liturgical Celebrations, he described his relationship with Pope Benedict XVI:
Marini's study of the Council's liturgical work appeared in English in 2007.
On 7 April 2017, he celebrated Mass in the Roman church where Paul VI first celebrated Mass in the vernacular at the conclusion of the Council fifty years earlier.
References
External links
Salt and Light TV: "Witness Archbishop Piero Marini"
3 February 2013
CBC The National: Archbishop Piero Marini interview
12 March 2013
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marini, Piero
1942 births
Liturgists
Living people
Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm alumni
21st-century Italian Roman Catholic titular archbishops
Members of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches
Members of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments