Giuseppe Betori (born 25 February 1947 in

Foligno Foligno (; Southern Umbrian: ''Fuligno'') is an ancient town of Italy in the province of Perugia in east central Umbria, on the Topino river where it leaves the Apennines and enters the wide plain of the Clitunno river system. It is located sou ...

, Italy) is an Italian

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **'' Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **'' Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, t ...

of the Catholic Church. He is the archbishop of Florence and the former Secretary General of the

Italian Episcopal Conference The Italian Episcopal Conference ( it, Conferenza Episcopale Italiana) or CEI is the episcopal conference of the Italian bishops of the Catholic Church, the official assembly of the bishops in Italy. The conference was founded in 1971 and carr ...

Early life

He was ordained a priest in 1970. He received a licentiate in theology at the

Pontifical Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

and a doctorate in Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute. He was Professor of anthropology

biblical exegesis Biblical criticism is the use of critical analysis to understand and explain the Bible. During the eighteenth century, when it began as ''historical-biblical criticism,'' it was based on two distinguishing characteristics: (1) the concern to ...

; Dean of the Theological Institute of Assisi. He also served as undersecretary of Italian Episcopal Conference from 1996 to 2001.

Bishop

He was nominated by Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

as Secretary General of the

and was simultaneously appointed

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox a ...

Falerone Falerone is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Fermo, in the Italian region of the Marche, southeast of Urbisaglia. History Almost nothing is known of the ancient town (called ''Falerio'') except from inscriptions. From the remains of its bu ...

. He received episcopal consecration on 6 May 2001. He was confirmed as Secretary General of the Italian Episcopal Conference, for a further five-year term, on 6 April 2006.

Archbishop of Florence

Betori was appointed to replace

Ennio Antonelli Ennio Antonelli (born 18 November 1936) is an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church and retired President of the Pontifical Council for the Family. Early life and ordination Born in Todi, he first attended seminary there, and then in Assi ...

, who had been appointed as president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, as archbishop of Florence by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereig ...

on 8 September 2008. He received the

pallium The pallium (derived from the Roman ''pallium'' or ''palla'', a woolen cloak; : ''pallia'') is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the pope, but for many centuries bestowed by the Holy See upon metropol ...

from Pope Benedict on 29 June 2009, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul in Rome

On 5 November 2011 Betori survived an apparent assassination attempt. An unidentified man confronted the archbishop outside his office, shot and wounded the prelate's secretary, and waved a gun at the archbishop before escaping. Fr Paolo Brogi, the archbishop's secretary, was reportedly in satisfactory condition after surgery to repair an abdominal wound. Betori and witnesses stated that the gunman said something as he gestured toward the prelate with his firearm, but they could not understand his intent. On 10 December 2011 he was appointed a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture for a five-year renewable term. On 6 January 2012 it was announced that Betori would become a cardinal on 18 February. He was created Cardinal-Priest of San Marcello. In addition to his duties at Culture, Betori was appointed a member of the Congregation for Catholic Education. On 17 May 2014,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013 ...

nominated him a member of the

Pontifical Council of the Laity The Pontifical Council for the Laity was a pontifical council of the Roman Catholic Curia from 1967 to 2016. It had the responsibility of assisting the Pope in his dealings with the laity in lay ecclesial movements or individually, and their ...

. He was one of the

cardinal electors A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

who participated in the

2013 papal conclave The 2013 papal conclave was convened to elect a pope to succeed Pope Benedict XVI following his resignation on 28 February 2013. After the 115 participating cardinal-electors gathered, they set 12 March 2013 as the beginning of the conclave. ...

that elected

Views

Life and family issues

In a 2007 speech, he identified as the new enemies of Christianity: abortion, euthanasia, the negation of sexual duality and of a family based on marriage.

Ordination of homosexuals

Betori has favoured a ban on the ordination of homosexuals, saying the word discrimination can be used where there is a right, but that a vocation is not a right but a gift.

Relationship with Benedict XVI

According to Abbé Claude Barthe, Betori is a member of the paleoliberal wing of the Roman Curia, who along with Giovanni Battista Re, constituted a kind of internal curial opposition to the decisions and policies of Pope

Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereig ...

.http://eucharistiemisericor.free.fr/index.php?page=0402092_curie L’opposition au Pape Benoît XVI dans les allées du pouvoir
/ref>

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Betori, Giuseppe 1947 births Living people People from Foligno 21st-century Italian cardinals Roman Catholic archbishops of Florence Members of the Pontifical Council for Culture Members of the Congregation for Catholic Education Members of the Congregation for the Clergy Cardinals created by Pope Benedict XVI Pontifical Biblical Institute alumni Pontifical Gregorian University alumni 21st-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops