Claudio Maniago (born 8 February 1959) is an Italian prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

who was named archbishop of Catanzaro-Squillace in 2021, after serving as the bishop of

Castellaneta Castellaneta ( Tarantino: ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Taranto in the Apulia region of Southern Italy, about from Taranto. Located in a territory spanning from the Murgia to the Ionian Sea, characterized by numerous ''gravina'' ...

since 2014. He was previously an auxiliary bishop of

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. He has led the liturgy programs of the Italian Episcopal Conference since 2015.

Early years

Claudio Maniago was born in

on 8 February 1959, the son of a cook and a housewife from the

Friuli Friuli (; ; or ; ; ) is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak the Friulian language. It comprises the major part of the autono ...

region. He studied at the major seminary there and then in Rome at the

Almo Collegio Capranica The Almo Collegio Capranica is the oldest Roman college, founded in 1457 by Cardinal Domenico Capranica (1400–1458) in his own palace for thirty young clerics, who received an education suitable to prepare them for the priesthood. History ...

. He earned a licentiate in liturgy at the

Pontifical Athenaeum of Saint Anselm The Anselmianum, also known as the Pontifical Athenaeum of Saint Anselm (; ) or simply ''Sant'Anselmo'', is a pontifical university in Rome associated with the Benedictines. It offers courses in philosophy, theology, liturgy, monastic studies, lan ...

. On 19 April 1984, he was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Florence by Archbishop Silvano Piovanelli. From 1987 to 1994 he was rector of the minor seminary, director of the diocesan center for vocations, a member of the diocesan pastoral council, and chaplain of the local Serra Club. In 1988 he became the Master of Ceremonies for the archdiocese and a lecturer in liturgy at the . In 1994 he became pro-vicar general of the archdiocese, moderator of its curia and honorary canon of the cathedral church of Florence. In 2001 he was appointed vicar general of the archdiocese.

Bishop

On 18 July 2003,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

appointed him

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

of Florence and titular bishop of Satafi. On 8 September he received his episcopal ordination from Cardinal Silvano Piovanelli, with co-consecrators Archbishop

Ennio Antonelli Ennio Antonelli (born 18 November 1936) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who was president of the Pontifical Council for the Family from 2008 to 2012. He has been a bishop since 1982, serving as bishop of Gubbio from 1982 to 1988, ...

and Bishop

Gualtiero Bassetti Gualtiero Bassetti (born 7 April 1942) is an Italian Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Perugia-Città della Pieve from 2009 to 2022. He has been a bishop since 1994 and was made a cardinal in 2014. He was president of the Italian ...

. He was the youngest bishop in Italy at the time. Among the attendees was his friend

Piero Marini Piero Marini (born 13 January 1942) is a Roman Catholic archbishop who is president emeritus of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses. For twenty years he served as Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations, in ch ...

, the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations. In addition to his assignments in Florence, he became the secretary of the Commission for the Liturgy of the

Italian Episcopal Conference The Italian Episcopal Conference () or CEI is the episcopal conference of the Italian bishops of the Catholic Church. The conference was founded in 1971 and carries out various tasks, including setting the national liturgical norms for the Mass. ...

(CEI). On 12 July 2014,

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 ...

appointed him bishop of

. He was installed there on 14 September 2014. On 21 May 2015, the CEI elected him president of its Commission for the Liturgy. On 3 October he was also appointed, by the Permanent Bishop's Council of the CEI, president of the Liturgical Action Center (Centro Azione Liturgica), which on behalf of the CEI promotes the liturgical movement in the Church and the renewal envisioned by the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

. On 28 October 2016, Pope Francis named him a member of the

Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments () is the dicastery (from , from δικαστής, 'judge, juror') of the Roman Curia that handles most affairs relating to liturgical practices of the Latin Church as distin ...

. In March 2021, Pope Francis charged Maniago with undertaking a review of the Congregation of Divine Worship in anticipation of the appointment of a new prefect following the retirement of Cardinal

Robert Sarah Robert Sarah (; born 15 June 1945) is a Guinean Catholic prelate who served as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments from 23 November 2014 to 20 February 2021. He previously served as secretary of the ...

in February.

Archbishop

Pope Francis named him archbishop of Catanzaro-Squillace on 29 November 2021. Maniago was installed there on 9 January 2022.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maniago, Claudio 1959 births Living people People from Florence Liturgists 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops Bishops appointed by Pope Francis