Norbert José Henri Turini (born 30 August 1954) is a French prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

who was named metropolitan archbishop of Montpellier in July 2022. He was

bishop of Cahors The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cahors (Latin: ''Dioecesis Cadurcensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Cahors'') is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the whole of the department of Lot. In the begi ...

from 2004 to 2014 and

bishop of Perpignan-Elne The Roman Catholic Diocese of Perpignan–Elne (Latin: ''Dioecesis Elnensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Perpignan–Elne''; Catalan: ''Bisbat de Perpinyà–Elna'') is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France.

from 2015 to 2022.

Biography

Norbert Turini was born on 30 August 1954 in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ci ...

and studied at the Lycée Carnot there. He earned a degree in biology at the

University of Nice A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

and studied in the interdiocesan major seminary of

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fran ...

, obtaining a licentiate in theology. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Nice on 27 June 1982. He was adjunct to the Diocesan Service for Vocations from 1982 to 1986 and head of the Saint-Paul House for Christian students, the Diocesan Service for Vocations and the preparatory year in the Seminary from 1986 to 1996. He was Episcopal Vicar for Youth Ministry from 1996 to 2000. He was also parish administrator of Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Nice in 1999/2000. From 2000 to 2004 he was vicar general of Nice. On 30 June 2004,

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 ...

appointed him bishop of Cahors. He received his episcopal consecration on 10 October from Émile Marcus, archbishop of Toulouse. In 2009 he joined a group of French bishops who criticized a Brazilian bishop for excommunicating a woman who arranged for her nine-year-old daughter, pregnant after being repeatedly raped by her stepfather, to have an abortion. He said: "We say it with all our strength, in this wounded world, we need to set forth attitudes of hope rather than hunker down in condemnations that run counter to the compassionate paths of merciful love." In a 2012 interview he said he was comfortable living with the French legal framework of ''laïcité'', and that it made it crucial to build bridges while "the danger is in words that end in 'ism'". He counseled non-violent responses to religious insults suffered by Muslims and asked for a "peaceful debate" about same-sex marriage.

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. ...

named him bishop of Perpignan-Elne on 18 October 2014. He was installed there on 18 January 2015. His work there focused on increasing the number of parish visits and the creation of several hundred prayer groups. In November 2020, he objected when the government limited the number of attendees at religious services to 30. He said the Church had been entirely supportive of the government's health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, but called this limit "a profound injustice" and told his priests not to count attendees. Pope Francis named him archbishop of Montpellier on 9 July 2022. Turini said he had expected to end his career in Perpignan, but declining the Montpellier title "would not be very evangelical". His installation in Montpellier is scheduled for 23 October. Within the French Episcopal Conference he was president of the Council for Communication from 2015 to 2021. He has been president of the Council for Interreligious Relations and New Religious Movements since 1 July 2022. He has also been general chaplain of the Maintenance des Pénitents of France and Monaco since 2018.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Turini, Norbert Living people 1954 births People from Cannes 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in France