Pietro Salvatore Colombo, OFM (28 October 1922 - 9 July 1989) was the

Catholic bishop In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of holy orders and is responsible for teaching doctrine, governing Catholics in his jurisdiction, sanctifying the world and representing the Chu ...

of the Diocese of Mogadiscio (

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

) from 1976 until his assassination.

Biography

Colombo was born in

Carate Brianza Carate Brianza is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Monza and Brianza, Lombardy, northern Italy. The city lies at an elevation ranging from above sea level, on the Lambro river. History The history of Carate Brianza dates back to the Sto ...

, near

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. He served the people of Somalia from 1946, after he had been ordained a priest in

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 ...

, until his death 43 years later. He was appointed as the first

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of Mogadishu in 1975, and

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 ...

as Bishop of Mogadishu on 16 March 1976. Bishop Colombo was well regarded by non-

Catholics 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 ...

, whether

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

or secular. Bishop Colombo was known for his pragmatic oversight of aid projects, making sure that aid projects could operate after the foreign aid workers went home. The

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Siad Barre Mohamed Siad Barre ( so, Maxamed Siyaad Barre, Osmanya script: ; ar, محمد سياد بري; c. 1910 – 2 January 1995) was a Somali head of state and general who served as the 3rd president of the Somali Democratic Republic from 1969 to 199 ...

did not tolerate proselytizing, but was comfortable with the humanitarian aid dispensed by the Church. Bishop Colombo was killed in his

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

by an unknown

assassin Assassination is the murder of a prominent or VIP, important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not ha ...

. President Barre blamed radical

Islamists Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is c ...

and offered a bounty for their capture.Religious Freedom in the Majority Islamic Countries, 1998 Report
Aid to the Church in Need, Alleanza Cattolica No bishop has been appointed for Mogadishu since

Monsignor Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...

Colombo's death. Currently, the welfare of Catholics in Somalia is overseen by the

Apostolic Administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of Mogadishu, Dr. Giorgio Bertin, OFM, who is also the Bishop of Djibouti.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colombo, Salvatore 1922 births 1989 deaths Italian Roman Catholic bishops in Africa Italian expatriates in Somalia 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Somalia English Friars Minor 20th-century Roman Catholic martyrs People murdered in Somalia Italian people murdered abroad People from Brianza Roman Catholic bishops of Mogadishu 1989 murders in Africa 1980s murders in Somalia

Biography

See also

Footnotes