Giuseppe Betori

Giuseppe Betori
Archbishop of Florence
Archdiocese	Florence
Diocese	Florence
Appointed	8 September 2008
Enthroned	26 October 2008 (&100000000000000030000003 years, &1000000000000009700000097 days)
Predecessor	Ennio Antonelli
Orders
Ordination	26 September 1970 by Siro Silvestri
Consecration	6 May 2001 by Camillo Ruini
Created Cardinal	18 February 2012
Personal details
Birth name	Giuseppe Betori
Born	25 February 1947 (1947-02-25) Foligno, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Previous post	Titular Bishop of Falerone (2001 - 2008)
Motto	deo et verbo gratiae
Coat of arms

Styles of Giuseppe Betori
Reference style	The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Archbishop
Posthumous style	not applicable

Giuseppe Betori (born 25 February 1947 in Foligno, Italy) is an Italian cleric of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the current archbishop of Florence and the former Secretary General of the Italian Episcopal Conference.

Early life

Ordained priest in 1970. He received a licentiate in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University and a doctorate in Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute. He was Professor of anthropology biblical exegesis; Dean of the Theological Institute of Assisi. He also served as undersecretary of Italian Episcopal Conference.

Bishop

He was nominated by Pope John Paul II as Secretary General of the Italian Episcopal Conference and was simultaneously appointed Titular Bishop of Falerone. He received episcopal consecration on 6 May 2001. He was confirmed as Secretary General of the Italian Episcopal Conference, for a further five-year term, on 6 April 2006.

Archbishop of Florence

The coat of arms of H.E. Mgr Giuseppe Betori, as archbishop of Florence, as seen on the façade of the Palazzo arcivescovile

Betori was appointed to replace Ennio Antonelli, who had been appointed as president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, as archbishop of Florence by Pope Benedict XVI on 8 September 2008. He received the pallium from Pope Benedict on 29 June 2009, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul in Rome. [1]

On 5 November 2011 Archbishop Betori survived an apparent assassination attempt. An unidentified man confronted the archbishop outside his office, shot and wounded the prelate’s secretary, and waved a gun at the archbishop before escaping. Fr Paolo Brogi, the archbishop's secretary, was reportedly in satisfactory condition after surgery to repair an abdominal wound. Archbishop Betori and witnesses that the gunman said something as he gestured toward the prelate with his firearm, but they could not understand his intent.

On 10 December 2011 he was appointed a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture for a five-year renewable term.

On 6 January 2012 it was announced that Betori would become a cardinal on 18 February.

Views

Life and family issues

In a 2007 speech, he identified as the new enemies of Christianity: abortion, euthanasia, the negation of sexual duality and of a family based on marriage.

Ordination of homosexuals

Betori has favored a ban on the ordination of homosexuals, saying the word discrimination can be used where there is a right, but that a vocation is not a right but a gift.

Relationship with Benedict XVI

According to Abbé Claude Barthe, Betori is a member of the paleoliberal wing of the Roman Curia, who along with Giovanni Battista Re, has constituted a kind of internal curial opposition to the decisions and policies of Pope Benedict XVI.

External links

• Profile of Giuseppe Betori on Catholic Hierarchy

Sources

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Ennio Antonelli	Secretary-General of the Italian Episcopal Conference 5 April 2001–8 September 2008	Succeeded by Mariano Crociata
Preceded by Ennio Antonelli	Archbishop of Florence 2008– present	Incumbent