Claudio Maria Celli (born 20 July 1941), is an Italian

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

Roman 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 ...

. An archbishop, Celli was President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications from 2007 to 2016.

Biography

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Celli was born in Rimini, and

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood on 19 March 1965. He graduated from the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in 1966. In 1990, he became Undersecretary of the Relations with States (equivalent to foreign minister) section of the Vatican Secretariat of State. On 16 December 1995, Celli was appointed Secretary of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See and

Titular Archbishop 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 an ...

of Cluentum. He received his episcopal consecration on 6 January 1996 from

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 ...

, with Archbishops Giovanni Battista Re and Jorge María Mejía serving as co-consecrators.

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 ...

named him President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications on 27 June 2007. He stated in January 2008 that Catholic media "should not become...instruments of a religious or cultural

fundamentalism Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that are characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguis ...

". He continued: "Our media is directed not just to Catholics, but to all men...they don't exist only for–or are directed only to–people who already belong to the Church, rather they should also give careful attention to what exists in the soul of man, in his heart, where sometimes there can be distance from

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

, or many times, a deep nostalgia for God." 1993 Maria Celli-Riegner-Beilin-Vatican-Israel-Relations

In January 2009, he announced an agreement with

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to build a joint venture giving Benedict XVI his own

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channel. On 5 January 2011 he was appointed one of the first members of the newly created Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation. Marking the 2012 World Day of Communications, Archbishop Celli, speaking on Pope Benedict's message of silence said, "the topic chosen by the Holy Father for this World Day of Social Communications is attentive to today’s communicative phenomena and invites us all to reflect on this fundamental point: Silence is an integral part of communication. This is why, when we wish communication to be genuinely human -- because it begins from one man and is addressed to other men -- the word that is communicated must be nourished by silence to be more meaningful, to be more true. Because it is in silence that I hear, it is in silence that I understand more attentively what are the needs, the sufferings, the search for the good and true that is in the heart of other men". In September 2014 he was appointed a member of the

Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (CEP; ) was a congregation (Roman Curia), congregation of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church in Rome, responsible for Catholic missions, missionary work and related activities. It is also kn ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Celli, Claudio Maria 1941 births Living people 21st-century Italian Roman Catholic titular archbishops Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy alumni Pontifical Council for Social Communications Members of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation Members of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications Members of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples Members of the Congregation for Bishops 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic titular archbishops