Matteo Zuppi Explained

Type:Cardinal
Honorific-Prefix:His Eminence
Matteo Maria Zuppi
Archbishop of Bologna
Church:Roman Catholic Church
Archdiocese:Bologna
See:Bologna
Enthroned:12 December 2015
Appointed:27 October 2015
Predecessor:Carlo Caffarra
Ordination:9 May 1981
Ordained By:Renato Spallanzani
Consecration:14 April 2012
Consecrated By:Agostino Vallini
Cardinal:5 October 2019
Created Cardinal By:Pope Francis
Rank:Cardinal-Priest
Birth Name:Matteo Maria Zuppi
Birth Date:11 October 1955
Birth Place:Rome, Italy
Nationality:Italian
Religion:Roman Catholic
Alma Mater:Pontifical Lateran University
Sapienza University of Rome
Motto:Latin: Gaudium Domini fortitudo vestra
(The joy of the Lord is your strength)
Coat Of Arms:Coat of arms of Matteo Maria Zuppi (cardinal).svg
Matteo Zuppi
Dipstyle:His Eminence
Relstyle:Cardinal

Matteo Maria Zuppi (born 11 October 1955) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been Archbishop of Bologna since 12 December 2015. He was previously an auxiliary bishop of Rome from 2012 to 2015.

Pope Francis raised him to the rank of cardinal in 2019. He has been president of the Episcopal Conference of Italy since May 2022.

Priest

Born in Rome on 11 October 1955, he is the fifth of six children of the journalist Enrico and Carla Fumagalli, niece of Cardinal Carlo Confalonieri. He attended the Liceo Virgilio there[1] and then he studied at the seminary in Palestrina and earned his Bachelor of Sacred Theology at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. He earned a laurea at the Sapienza University of Rome, writing his thesis on the history of Christianity. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Palestrina on 9 May 1981 and in that year was appointed as the parochial vicar of Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere under Vincenzo Paglia, whom he succeeded as pastor of the church, serving from 2000 to 2010.[2] He was incardinated into the Archdiocese of Rome in 1988.

He worked with the Community of Sant'Egidio, a Catholic lay association devoted to ecumenism and conflict resolution.[3] Zuppi was one of the four mediators of the two-year-long Rome-based peace negotiations that resulted in the Rome General Peace Accords and helped end the civil war in Mozambique in 1992,[4] [5] in recognition of which he was made an honorary citizen of that country.[6] Zuppi also traveled to Turkey in 1993 in an attempt to secure the release of two Italian tourists held by Kurdish rebels.[7]

Bishop and archbishop

On 31 January 2012, Pope Benedict XVI named him an Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Rome and titular bishop of Villa Nova.[8] He was ordained a bishop on 14 April 2012 by Cardinal Agostino Vallini, Vicar General of the Diocese of Rome. He was the auxiliary responsible for the city center, including the Trastevere neighborhood where Sant'Egidio is headquartered. There he led efforts to improve care for the poor and the elderly and developed outreach programs for drug addicts and gypsies.[6] He also established relations with traditionalists and celebrated a Pontifical Mass according to the Tridentine rite.[9]

Pope Francis appointed him Archbishop of Bologna on 27 October 2015.[10]

In May 2018, he contributed an essay to the Italian translation of James Martin's Building a Bridge, Un ponte da costruire. He wrote that it was "useful for encouraging dialogue, as well as reciprocal knowledge and understanding, in view of a new pastoral attitude that we must seek together with our L.G.B.T. brothers and sisters" and that it will "help L.G.B.T. Catholics feel more at home in what is, after all, their church".[11] [12]

On 1 September 2019 Pope Francis announced that he planned to create Zuppi a cardinal on 5 October; he was the first head of an Italian see traditionally headed by a cardinal to be named a cardinal by Francis. On 5 October 2019, Pope Francis made him Cardinal-Priest of Sant'Egidio.[13] He was made a member of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development on 21 February 2020,[14] and a member of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See on 18 April 2020.[15]

On 14 January 2022, at the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and of the Martyrs in Rome, Zuppi presided over the state funeral of David Sassoli, his personal friend since adolescence and President of the European Parliament, who died on 11 January due to a multiple myeloma.[16] [17]

On 24 May 2022, Pope Francis, having been presented by the with three candidates for the post, chose Zuppi to serve a five-year term as president of the Episcopal Conference of Italy.[18] [19]

In June 2022 Cardinal Zuppi was accused of hiding what critics called blessing a gay couple after their civil wedding. The editor of the Italian conservative Catholic online newspaper said the Archdiocese of Bologna made a number of false claims in a statement attempting to justify the ceremony. The "blessing" of Pietro Morotti and Giacomo Spagnolli took place in the presence of six priests at the church of San Lorenzo di Budrio. Cardinal Zuppi was not present, and had no part in the ceremony.[20]

In 2023 Pope Francis asked Cardinal Zuppi to carry out a peace mission to try to help end the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Zuppi met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy; he did not meet President Vladimir Putin,[21] but he did meet with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow.[22] In July 2023, he flew to the United States to meet with President Joe Biden.[23]

Publications

See also

References

Additional sources

Notes and References

  1. News: 17 January 2022 . Crux . Friendship between cardinal and politician cemented comeback of 'Bologna school' . 16 January 2022 . John L. . Allen Jr. .
  2. News: Government Ban on 'Miracle' Drug Hasn't a Prayer . Schmetzer . Uli . 1987-12-09 . Chicago Tribune.
  3. Web site: Sant'Egidio, la piccola Onu romana ultima spiaggia di tante crisi. La Repubblica . Daniele . Mastrogiacomo. 14 October 2010. 18 April 2012.
  4. Eric . Morier-Genoud. Sant'Egidio et la paix. Interviews de Don Matteo Zuppi & Ricardo Cannelli. Le Fait Missionnaire - Social Sciences & Missions. 13. October 2003. 119–145. 10.1163/221185203X00051 .
  5. News: Vingt-sept mois de négociations intermittentes à Rome . 1992-10-04 . Agence France-Presse.
  6. News: Allen Jr.. John L.. Francis' Pastoral Revolution rolls on with two big picks in Italy. 27 October 2015. Crux. 27 October 2015. 9 September 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170909233232/https://cruxnow.com/church/2015/10/27/francis-pastoral-revolution-rolls-on-with-two-big-picks-in-italy/. dead.
  7. News: "L' esercito turco ci tiene prigionieri in un albergo"; Ma dal governo arriva una "tiepida solidarietà", il ministero degli Esteri ribadisce: non dovevano fare nessuna trattativa . Gramellini . Massimo . 1993-09-14. La Stampa.
  8. Holy See Press Office . 17 January 2022 . 31 January 2012 . Rinunce e Nomine, 31.01.2021 . it .
  9. Web site: it . Pontificale di mons. Matteo M. Zuppi alla chiesa di Gesù e Maria a Roma. 22 May 2018. Une voce Italia. 11 June 2014.
  10. Rinuncia dell'arcivescovo metropolita di Bologna (Italia) e nomina del successore. it . Holy See Press Office. 27 October 2015.
  11. News: Zuppi. Matteo. Italian archbishop endorses a 'new pastoral attitude' for L.G.B.T Catholics. 22 May 2018. America. 21 May 2018.
  12. News: Zuppi. Matteo. Zuppi. Chiesa e persone Lgbt sul ponte dell'incontro. 22 May 2018. Avvenire. 20 May 2018 . it.
  13. 5 October 2019 . 5 October 2019 . Concistoro Ordinario Pubblico: Assegnazione dei Titoli, 05.10.2019 . it . Holy See Press Office .
  14. Holy See Press Office . 3 March 2020 . it . Rinunce e nomine, 21.02.2020 . 21 February 2020 .
  15. Holy See Press Office . 18 April 2020 . Resignations and Appointments, 18.04.2020 . 18 April 2020 .
  16. https://www.ansa.it/sito/notizie/topnews/2022/01/14/sassolicard.-zuppi-compagno-di-classe-che-tutti-vorrebbero_992e1f30-e1df-4f7f-8f77-a563600e7179.html Sassoli:Card. Zuppi, compagno di classe che tutti vorrebbero
  17. https://www.ilgiorno.it/cronaca/funerali-sassoli-1.7248233 Funerali di Stato per David Sassoli: il tributo della politica e il ricordo dei figli
  18. News: Crux . 3 June 2022 . New head of Italian bishops tasked with handling clergy sex abuse . 25 May 2022 . Inés . San Martín .
  19. News: Zuppi è il nuovo presidente della Cei nominato dal Papa: "Farò del mio meglio" . it . 24 May 2022 . 3 June 2022.
  20. Edward Pentin, Cardinal Zuppi Accused of 'Incorrect and Misleading' Spin of Same-Sex Blessing, National Catholic Register, 22 June 2022; quoting an editorial in La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana, headlined "Blessing of Gay Couple, Cardinal Zuppi's Lies", by editor Riccardo Cascioli.
  21. News: Pope asks Italian cardinal to carry out Ukraine peace mission . Reuters . 20 May 2023 . Pullella . Philip .
  22. Hudson, P., Zuppi meets Kirill on Moscow peace mission, The Tablet, published 30 June 2023, accessed 5 August 2023
  23. https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2023/07/biden-papal-envoy-meet-for-two-hours-on-ukraine-focus-on-humanitarian-aid Biden, papal envoy meet for two hours on Ukraine, focus on humanitarian aid