Aldo Giordano (20 August 1954 – 2 December 2021) was an Italian prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

who was

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 ...

to the European Union in 2021. He was previously

Apostolic Nuncio to Venezuela The Apostolic Nunciature to Venezuela is the diplomatic mission of the Holy See to Venezuela, formally established in 1921. The most recent Apostolic Nuncio is Archbishop Aldo Giordano, who was named to the position by Pope Francis on 26 October 2 ...

from 2013 to 2021 and before that the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the Council of Europe in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...

from 2008 to 2013. From his ordination in 1979 to 1995 he did pastoral work and taught in his native city of Cuneo. He then served as secretary-general of the Council of Episcopal Conferences of Europe, based in Switzerland, for thirteen years.

Biography

Giordano was born in

Cuneo Cuneo (; pms, Coni ; oc, Coni/Couni ; french: Coni ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Northern Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the fourth largest of Italy’s provinces by area. It is located at 550 metres (1,804 ft) in ...

, Italy. He attended the last year of elementary school and middle and high school in the Seminary of Cuneo (1965–1973). He completed his studies in philosophy and theology and obtained a bachelor's degree in 1978. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Cuneo on 28 July 1979. From 1978 to 1982, he studied philosophy in Rome at 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 ...

. He was awarded a licentiate in 1980 and a doctorate on the thought of

Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his car ...

in 1982. During this time he was vice pastor of the parish of SS. Sacramento sulla Prenestina. From 1982 to 1996, Giordano served as professor of philosophy at the Inter-Diocesan School in Fossano (Cuneo). At the diocesan level he taught the history of philosophy in the seminary high school and he has taught courses on ethics in the school of theology for lay people. He worked as a curate in the parish of S. Pius X in Cuneo and followed the diocesan pastoral areas of politics, economics, medicine and culture. On 15 May 1995, he was elected secretary-general Council of Episcopal Conferences of Europe and was transferred to

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website = ...

, Switzerland, where it is headquartered. He served in this role for 13 years. In 2002 he was awarded the title

Chaplain of His Holiness A Chaplain of His Holiness is a priest to whom the Pope has granted this title. They are addressed as Monsignor and have certain privileges with respect to ecclesiastical dress and vestments.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 sovereig ...

appointed him Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with a p ...

in Strasbourg. On 26 October 2013,

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 ...

appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and

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 ...

of the Tamada. He succeeded

Pietro Parolin Pietro Parolin OMRI (, ; born 17 January 1955) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church. A cardinal since February 2014, he has served as the Vatican's Secretary of State since October 2013 and a member of the Council of Cardinal Advisers si ...

who left the nuncio's position to become Secretary of State. Parolin ordained Giordano a bishop at the Sports Palace of San Rocco Castagnaretta in

on 14 December. On 8 May 2021, Pope Francis appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to the European Union. Giordano died from complications of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

after having spent weeks at a hospital in

Louvain Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic c ...

on 2 December 2021.

Writings

* * With F. Tomatis. *

References

External links

Catholic Hierarchy: Archbishop Aldo Giordano
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giordano, Aldo 1954 births 2021 deaths 21st-century Italian Roman Catholic titular archbishops Permanent Observers of the Holy See to the Council of Europe Apostolic Nuncios to Venezuela Apostolic Nuncios to the European Union Pontifical Gregorian University alumni People from Cuneo Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium