Gastone Simoni (9 April 1937 – 28 August 2022) was 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 ...

serving as the bishop of Diocese of Prato from 1992 to 2021.

Biography

Simoni was born in

Castelfranco di Sopra Castelfranco di Sopra is a ''frazione'' (parish) of the ''comune'' of Castelfranco Piandiscò, in the province of Arezzo, in the Italian region of Tuscany. It is located about southeast of Florence and about northwest of Arezzo. It is one of I ...

, in the

province of Arezzo The province of Arezzo () is a province in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Arezzo. The province is bordered by the regions of Marche, Emilia-Romagna, Umbria, and the provinces Siena and Florence of Tuscany. It has an area ...

, Italy on 9 April 1937. He studied theology at Small Diocesan Seminary of Strada in

Casentino The Casentino is the valley in which the first tract of the river Arno flows to Subbiano, Italy. It is one of the four valleys (alongside Valdarno, Valdichiana, and Valtiberina) in which the Province of Arezzo is divided. Mount Falterona, from w ...

and the Seminary of Fiesole. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1960 by the bishop of

Fiesole Fiesole () is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany, on a scenic height above Florence, 5 km (3 miles) northeast of that city. It has structures dating to Etruscan and Roman times. ...

Antonio Bagnoli Antonio Bagnoli (25 February 1902 – 24 December 1997) was an Italian ordinary of the Catholic Church. He was the bishop of Volterra and then the bishop of Fiesole. Biography Antonio Bagnoli was born on 25 February 1902 in Cortenuova, an I ...

. As a priest, Simoni served as provicar general (1969–1975) and

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 ...

(1975–1991) for the diocese of Fiesole. He was also rector of the diocesan seminary (1970–1978). On 7 December 1991

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 Simoni as

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the Diocese of Prato, Italy. In January 1992 Simoni was consecrated as a bishop in

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (), or simply St. Peter's Basilica (; ), is a church of the Italian High Renaissance located in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the city of Rome, Italy. It was initiall ...

by Pope John Paul II. He served as bishop of Prato until his retirement in 2012, after which he became a

bishop emeritus In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of holy orders and is responsible for teaching doctrine, governing Catholics in his jurisdiction, sanctifying the world and representing the c ...

. Simoni died on 28 August 2022. The

funeral Mass A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect the ...

for Simoni was celebrated at the

Prato Cathedral Prato Cathedral, or Cathedral of Saint Stephen, () is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Prato, Tuscany, Central Italy, from 1954 the seat of the Bishop of Prato, having been previously, from 1653, a cathedral in the Diocese of Pistoia and Prato. It ...

on 31 August.

References

External links

*
Message Of The Holy Father To The Bishop of Prato On The Occasion Of The 350th Anniversary Of The Foundation Of The Diocese
(21 September 2003) 1937 births 2022 deaths 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops 21st-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II People from the Province of Prato {{21C-Italy-RC-bishop-stub