Luciano Suriani (born 11 January 1957) 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 has served as

Apostolic Nuncio An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is ...

to Bulgaria from 2022.

Biography

Suriani was born in 1957 in

Atessa Atessa (locally ''L'Atésse'') is a municipality in the province of Chieti, Abruzzo, south-eastern Italy. It is part of the Sangro, Val di Sangro mountain community. It is the largest municipality in the province by extension and eighth by populat ...

Chieti Chieti (, ; , , ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Southern Italy, east of Rome. It is the capital of the province of Chieti, in the Abruzzo, Abruzzo region. In Italian, the adjectival form is ''teatino'' and inhabitants of Chieti ar ...

. He was ordained a priest on 5 August 1981. He was incardinated in the diocese of Chieti-Vasto. He earned a doctorate in

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

from the

Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy The Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy (, ) is one of the Roman Colleges of the Catholic Church. The academy is dedicated to training priests to serve in the diplomatic corps and the Secretariat of State of the Holy See. Despite its name, the P ...

Diplomatic career

He entered the diplomatic service of the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

on 1 June 1990, and worked in the papal diplomatic missions to Ivory Coast, Switzerland, the Section for Relations with States at the Secretariat of State, and the

Nunciature An apostolic nunciature is a top-level diplomatic mission of the Holy See that is equivalent to an embassy. However, it neither issues visas nor has consulates. The head of the apostolic nunciature is called a ''nuncio'', an ecclesiastical dip ...

to Italy, by which time he held the rank of counsellor. Apart from Italian, he knows Spanish, French and English. On 22 February 2008 by

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

Apostolic Nuncio to Bolivia Apostolic may refer to: The Apostles An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission: *The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles *Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Churc ...

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 ...

Amiternum Amiternum was an ancient Sabine city, then Roman city and later bishopric and Latin Catholic titular see in the central Abruzzo region of modern Italy, located from L'Aquila. Amiternum was the birthplace of the historian Sallust (86 BC). Histo ...

, On 26 April 2008 he was ordained a bishop by Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone. He was replaced as Nuncio to Bolivia after nine months on 22 September by Giambattista Diquattro. Suriani had requested a new assignment because of health problems associated with high altitudes.

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

is located 3,640 metres above sea level. On 24 September 2009, Suriani was appointed to a senior position as the Secretariat of State. As Delegate for Papal Representatives he has responsibility for coordinating the affairs of the Holy See's diplomats. On 7 December 2015

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 nuncio to

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. On 13 May 2022 Pope Francis appointed him nuncio to Bulgaria and North Macedonia.

References

5 https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2022/05/13/0354/00753.html

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suriani, Luciano 1957 births Living people People from Atessa Apostolic nuncios to Bolivia Apostolic nuncios to Serbia Apostolic nuncios to Bulgaria Apostolic nuncios to North Macedonia 21st-century Italian Roman Catholic titular archbishops Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy alumni Bishops appointed by Pope Benedict XVI

Biography

Diplomatic career

See also

References

External links