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.
Matteo Maria Zuppi | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Bologna | |
 Zuppi in 2019 | |
| Church | Roman Catholic Church |
| Archdiocese | Bologna |
| See | Bologna |
| Appointed | 27 October 2015 |
| Installed | 12 December 2015 |
| Predecessor | Carlo Caffarra |
| Other post(s) | |
| Previous post(s) |
|
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 9 May 1981 by Renato Spallanzani |
| Consecration | 14 April 2012 by Agostino Vallini |
| Created cardinal | 5 October 2019 by Pope Francis |
| Rank | Cardinal-Priest |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Matteo Maria Zuppi 11 October 1955 |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Alma mater | Pontifical Lateran University Sapienza University of Rome |
| Motto | Gaudium Domini fortitudo vestra (The joy of the Lord is your strength) |
| Coat of arms | .svg) |
| Styles of Matteo Zuppi | |
|---|---|
| |
| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
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
editBorn 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.[citation needed] 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][3] He was incardinated into the Archdiocese of Rome in 1988.[3]
He worked with the Community of Sant'Egidio, a Catholic lay association devoted to ecumenism and conflict resolution.[4] 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,[5][6] in recognition of which he was made an honorary citizen of that country.[7] Zuppi also traveled to Turkey in 1993 in an attempt to secure the release of two Italian tourists held by Kurdish rebels.[8]
Bishop and archbishop
editOn 31 January 2012, Pope Benedict XVI named him an Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Rome and titular bishop of Villa Nova.[3] 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.[7] 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.[citation needed] 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 Conference 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]
Cardinal Zuppi visited Moscow in October 2024 to promote humanitarian collaboration amid the ongoing conflict.[24]
Publications
edit- Zuppi, Matteo Maria (2010). La Confessione, il perdono per cambiare. Cinisello Balsamo: Edizioni San Paolo. ISBN 978-88-215-6821-3.
- Zuppi, Matteo Maria (2013). Guarire le malattie del cuore: itinerario quaresimale. Cinisello Balsamo: Edizioni San Paolo. ISBN 978-88-215-7649-2.
- Zuppi, Matteo Maria (2019). Odierai il prossimo tuo come te stesso. Perché abbiamo dimenticato la fraternità. Riflessioni sulle paure del tempo presente. Piemme. ISBN 978-8856672336.
See also
editReferences
edit
- ^ Allen Jr., John L. (16 January 2022). "Friendship between cardinal and politician cemented comeback of 'Bologna school'". Crux. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
- ^ Schmetzer, Uli (9 December 1987). "Government Ban on 'Miracle' Drug Hasn't a Prayer". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ a b c "Rinunce e Nomine, 31.01.2021" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 31 January 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
- ^ Mastrogiacomo, Daniele (14 October 2010). "Sant'Egidio, la piccola Onu romana ultima spiaggia di tante crisi". La Repubblica. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ^ Morier-Genoud, Eric (October 2003). "Sant'Egidio et la paix. Interviews de Don Matteo Zuppi & Ricardo Cannelli". Le Fait Missionnaire - Social Sciences & Missions (13): 119–145. doi:10.1163/221185203X00051.
- ^ "Vingt-sept mois de négociations intermittentes à Rome". Agence France-Presse. 4 October 1992.
- ^ a b Allen Jr., John L. (27 October 2015). "Francis' Pastoral Revolution rolls on with two big picks in Italy". Crux. Archived from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
- ^ Gramellini, Massimo (14 September 1993). ""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". La Stampa.
- ^ "Pontificale di mons. Matteo M. Zuppi alla chiesa di Gesù e Maria a Roma". Une voce Italia (in Italian). 11 June 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
- ^ "Rinuncia dell'arcivescovo metropolita di Bologna (Italia) e nomina del successore" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
- ^ Zuppi, Matteo (21 May 2018). "Italian archbishop endorses a 'new pastoral attitude' for L.G.B.T Catholics". America. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
- ^ Zuppi, Matteo (20 May 2018). "Zuppi. Chiesa e persone Lgbt sul ponte dell'incontro". Avvenire (in Italian). Retrieved 22 May 2018.
- ^ "Concistoro Ordinario Pubblico: Assegnazione dei Titoli, 05.10.2019" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 5 October 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
- ^ "Rinunce e nomine, 21.02.2020" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 21 February 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
- ^ "Resignations and Appointments, 18.04.2020" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. 18 April 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- ^ Sassoli:Card. Zuppi, compagno di classe che tutti vorrebbero, ANSA
- ^ Funerali di Stato per David Sassoli: il tributo della politica e il ricordo dei figli, Il Giorno
- ^ San Martín, Inés (25 May 2022). "New head of Italian bishops tasked with handling clergy sex abuse". Crux. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
- ^ "Zuppi è il nuovo presidente della Cei nominato dal Papa: "Farò del mio meglio"" (in Italian). 24 May 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Pullella, Philip (20 May 2023). "Pope asks Italian cardinal to carry out Ukraine peace mission". Reuters.
- ^ Hudson, P., Zuppi meets Kirill on Moscow peace mission, The Tablet, published 30 June 2023, accessed 5 August 2023
- ^ Biden, papal envoy meet for two hours on Ukraine, focus on humanitarian aid
- ^ Top cardinal back in Moscow amid pope’s anti-war efforts
- Additional sources
- Muolo, Mimmo (27 May 2022). "Assemblea Cei. Il cardinale Zuppi: contro gli abusi la via nuova della Chiesa in Italia". Avvenire (in Italian).