Simone Scatizzi (26 May 1931 – 27 August 2010) was the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Pistoia The Diocese of Pistoia () is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church located in the Province of Florence. It has existed since the third century. From 1653 to 1954, the historic diocese was the diocese of Pistoia and Prato. The Diocese of Prato ha ...

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Biography

Scattizzi was born in Coiano, a neighborhood in

Prato Prato ( ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') in Tuscany, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Prato. The city lies in the northeast of Tuscany, at an elevation of , at the foot of Monte Retaia (the last peak in the Calvana ch ...

, on May 26, 1931. He entered the seminary in Prato at a young age and pursued studies in theology, later attending the seminary in

Pistoia Pistoia (; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of a province of the same name, located about north-west of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a typic ...

. Ordained in 1954, Scatizzi was appointed bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fiesole,

and then in 1981, Bishop of the Pistola Diocese retiring in 2006. In 2005, Scatizzi became the focus of controversy regarding

civil partnerships A civil union (also known as a Civil partnership in the United Kingdom, civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for Same-sex relationship, same-sex couples. Civi ...

, ending up on the front page of ''

La Repubblica (; English: "the Republic") is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper with an average circulation of 151,309 copies in May 2023. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and l ...

''. In February 2010, he once again made headlines due to statements he made about homosexuality, where he characterized this sexual orientation as "a disorder." The bishop also reiterated that practicing and unrepentant homosexuals should not receive communion. These statements led to strong protests against the Catholic Church from major Italian

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associations and some politicians. Arcigay, represented by its president , stated that the Catholic confession offends the dignity of homosexuals.

Notes

Bishops in Tuscany Bishops of Fiesole 1931 births 2010 deaths Bishops appointed by Pope Paul VI {{Italy-RC-bishop-stub