Mariano Crociata (born 16 March 1953) has been bishop of the Diocese of Latina-Terracina-Sezze-Priverno since 19 November 2013. He was previously the Secretary-General of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), the first to come from a southern Italian

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

, and earlier served as Bishop of Noto.

Early life and priesthood

Born in Castelvetrano,

Province of Trapani The province of Trapani (; ; officially ''libero consorzio comunale di Trapani'') is a Provinces of Italy, province in the autonomous island region of Sicily, Italy. Following the suppression of the Sicilian provinces, it was replaced in 2015 by ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, Crociata was ordained as a priest in 1979. He studied philosophy and theology at the Almo Collegio Capranica. He graduated from the

Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...

of Rome, where he was awarded a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

in 1987 on "Humanism and theology in Augustine Steuco" for the kinds of New Town in 1987. Crociata ran the theology of religions department at

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

's Theological School and has organised a number of conferences including many on

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. From 2003 he was

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

of the Diocese of Mazara del Vallo.

Bishop

On 16 July 2007

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

appointed him Bishop of Noto. He was consecrated on 6 October 2007. On 26 September 2008 Benedict appointed him secretary general of the CEI to replace Giuseppe Betori who had been appointed archbishop of Florence. Crociata was reportedly named secretary general on the recommendation of

archbishop of Genoa The Archdiocese of Genoa () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Italy. Erected in the 3rd century, it was elevated to an archdiocese on 20 March 1133. The archdiocese of Genoa was, in 1986, united with ...

and CEI president Cardinal

Angelo Bagnasco Angelo Bagnasco (; born 14 January 1943) is an Italian Cardinal (Catholicism), Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Genoa, Archbishop of Genoa from 2006 to 2020. He was President of the Conferenza Episcopale It ...

, who became president of the CEI in 2007. In October 2010 Bishop Crociata welcomed civil suits against priests for alleged sexual abuse. He said that "There will be no obstacles to civil proceedings. On the contrary, they would be viewed favourably," he told reporters following a meeting of the Episcopal Conference. "The Italian church acts rigorously and with the necessary attention for the victims," he added. Italian bishops say about 100 cases of sexual abuse of minors have been investigated by the church over the last decade. Critics say the number is far higher. Upon his election as pope,

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

did not confirm Crociata is his CEI post and instead named him bishop of Latina-Terracina-Sezze-Priverno. In doing so, Francis returned to the practice of the early years of the CEI under Paul VI, when the position of Secretary-General was not a stepping stone to a major diocese and eventual appointment as cardinal.

References

External links

1953 births Living people People from Castelvetrano Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Almo Collegio Capranica alumni 21st-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops {{21C-Italy-RC-bishop-stub