HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli OFM (5 February 1942, in El Khadra,
Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
– 30 December 2019, in Saccolongo, Italy) was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate, who was a Vicar Apostolic of Tripoli and the Titular Bishop of
Tabuda Tabuda, Thouda or Tahuda (former Roman Thabudeos) was a Roman–Berber colonia in the province of Numidia. A key town in the Roman, Byzantine and Vandal empires, it is identifiable with the stone ruins at the oasis adjacent to the village o ...
.


Life

Martinelli was born in
Italian Libya Libya ( it, Libia; ar, ليبيا, Lībyā al-Īṭālīya) was a colony of the Fascist Italy located in North Africa, in what is now modern Libya, between 1934 and 1943. It was formed from the unification of the colonies of Italian Cyrenaica ...
, but moved to Italy with his family when he was a child. He was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in 1967 and returned to Libya in 1971. In 1985, he was appointed the Vicar Apostolic of
Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in t ...
and the Titular Bishop of
Tabuda Tabuda, Thouda or Tahuda (former Roman Thabudeos) was a Roman–Berber colonia in the province of Numidia. A key town in the Roman, Byzantine and Vandal empires, it is identifiable with the stone ruins at the oasis adjacent to the village o ...
. During the civil war in Libya he made an appeal, unheeded by the western states, not to humiliate
Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spelling ...
, but to seek dialogue with him. Martinelli was one of the few who understood that without Gaddafi Libya would be in threat of a civil war. He then strongly condemned the NATO bombings during the 2011 military intervention in Libya. In February 2015, during the Libyan crisis for the control of the provinces of Barqa and Tripoli by
ISIS Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...
, Martinelli refused to leave the country and was the last Italian left in that territory. He received death menaces, but he declared to be ready for martyrdom if necessary and remained next to the last 300 Catholics in Libya. He had severe health problems and had to retire to Italy leaving for good Libya on 22 October 2015. He then presented his resignation to Pope Francis on 5 February 2017, his 75th birthday. Pope Francis accepted his renunciation and coadiutor Bishop George Bugeja, who was already in Tripoli before Martinelli's departure in 2015, took over. His health slowly continued to deteriorate and he was taken care of in the elderly care center of the Friars Minor of Saccolongo, where he died on 30 December 2019.


See also

* Catholic Church in Libya *
Italian Libya Libya ( it, Libia; ar, ليبيا, Lībyā al-Īṭālīya) was a colony of the Fascist Italy located in North Africa, in what is now modern Libya, between 1934 and 1943. It was formed from the unification of the colonies of Italian Cyrenaica ...


References


External links


The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church - Bishop Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli, O.F.M.
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinelli, Giovanni Innocenzo 1942 births 2019 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Libya 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Libya Libyan Friars Minor Libyan people of Italian descent Roman Catholic bishops of Tripoli