Vito Roberti (12 September 1911 – 31 August 1998) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who was Bishop of Caserta from 1965 to 1987. He was given the personal title of archbishop in 1962 and worked from 1962 to 1965 in the diplomatic service of the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

Apostolic Nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international org ...

to several countries in Africa.

Biography

Vito Roberti was born on 11 September 1911 in

Matera Matera (, ; Materano: ) is a city in the region of Basilicata, in Southern Italy. As the capital of the province of Matera, its original settlement lies in two canyons carved by the Gravina River. This area, the Sassi di Matera, is a comple ...

, Italy. He was ordained a priest on 23 December 1933. In 1950 he joined the staff of the

Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs The Section for Relations with States or Second Section of the Secretariat of State is the body within the Roman Curia charged with dealing with matters that involve relations with civil governments. It has been part of the Vatican Secretariat o ...

. On 13 October 1962,

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

named him

titular archbishop 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 ...

Constantia in Scythia {{refimprove, date=February 2017 :''See Constantia for namesakes The Diocese of Constantia (in Scythia) is a former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see. The diocese once had its episcopal see in present Constanța (capital of the Ro ...

and Apostolic Delegate to the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

and to

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

. His title in each of those positions changed promptly to Apostolic Nuncio, in the Congo on 16 February 1963 and in Rwanda on 6 June 1964. He received his episcopal consecration on 2 December 1962 from Cardinal

Amleto Cicognani Amleto Giovanni Cicognani (24 February 1883 – 17 December 1973) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Vatican Secretary of State from 1961 to 1969, and Dean of the College of Cardinals from 1972 until his death. C ...

. On 11 February 1963, Pope John gave him the additional responsibility of

Apostolic Nuncio to Burundi The Apostolic Nunciature to Burundi the diplomatic mission of the Holy See to Burundi. It is located in Bujumbura. The current Apostolic Nuncio is Archbishop Dieudonné Datonou, who was named to the position by Pope Francis on 07 October 2021. Th ...

. On 15 August 1965, Pope Paul ended his diplomatic career, appointing him

Bishop of Caserta The Diocese of Caserta ( la, Dioecesis Casertana) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Campania, southern Italy. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Naples.Diocese of Alife The Diocese of Alife-Caiazzo ( la, Dioecesis Aliphana-Caiacensis o Caiatina) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Campania, southern Italy, created in 1986. In that year the historic Diocese of Alife was united with the Diocese of Cai ...

, a position he held until 1978.

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 ...

appointed his successor in Caserta on 6 June 1987 when he was 75. He died on 31 August 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberti, Vito 1911 births 1998 deaths Clergy from Genoa Officials of the Roman Curia Apostolic Nuncios to the Democratic Republic of the Congo Apostolic Nuncios to Rwanda Apostolic Nuncios to Burundi