Tommaso Caputo (born 17 October 1950) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in 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 ...

from 1980 to 2012, when he was named Territorial Prelate of Pompei.

Biography

Tommaso Caputo was born on 17 October 1950 in Afragola in Naples, Italy. He studied at the seminary in Naples and obtained a licenciate in sacred theology at the Theological Faculty of Southern Italy. He was ordained a priest on 10 April 1974. His early assignments including the formation of seminarians, parish vicar, and religion teacher in the public schools. To prepare for a diplomatic career he entered the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in 1976. While there, he also earned a doctorate in canon law at the

Pontifical Lateran University The Pontifical Lateran University (; ), also known as Lateranum, is a pontifical university based in Rome. The university also hosts the central session of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. The university ...

. Caputo joined the diplomatic service of the

on 25 March 1980 where he occupied various posts at the Apostolic Nunciatures in Rwanda (1980–1984), the Philippines (1984–1987), Venezuela (1987–1989), and at the Secretariat of State (1989–1993). On 19 June 1993 he was named Head of Protocol in the Secretariat of State. Caputo was appointed Titular Archbishop of Otriculum and Apostolic Nuncio to Malta and

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

on 3 September 2007. He was ordained a bishop 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 ...

(principal consecrator), and the Cardinals

Tarcisio Bertone Tarcisio Pietro Evasio Bertone (born 2 December 1934) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church and a Vatican City, Vatican diplomat. A Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal since 2003, he served as Archbishop of Vercelli from 1991 to 1995, as S ...

and Marian Jaworski, on 29 September 2007. In March 2011, as the political situation in Libya was becoming violent, he appealed for Italy to accept Eritrean refugees trapped in Libya. He reported that Catholic religious in the country were not in danger as "the Libyan people, as traditionally they have always done, are expressing their gratitude for the presence and service of the women religious and priests. In these days this benevolence is shown with concrete gestures of solidarity". He held his post as Nuncio until his appointment as prelate of the Territorial Prelature of Pompei on 10 November 2012. Pope Francis approved his additional appointment to the office of Assessor of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre effective September 2019.

References

;Additional sources *

External links

Catholic-Hierarchy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caputo, Tommaso Clergy from Naples Apostolic nuncios to Malta Apostolic nuncios to Libya 21st-century Italian Roman Catholic titular archbishops Bishops appointed by Pope Benedict XVI 1950 births Living people Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy alumni Pontifical Lateran University alumni Diplomats from Naples