His Eminence

Agostino Marchetto
Cardinal
Secretary Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People
Marchetto in 2018
ChurchRoman Catholic Church
Appointed6 November 2001
Term ended25 August 2010
PredecessorFrancesco Gioia
SuccessorJoseph Kalathiparambil
Other post(s)Cardinal Deacon of Santa Maria Goretti (2023-)
Orders
Ordination28 June 1964
by Carlo Zinato
Consecration1 November 1985
by Sebastiano Baggio
Created cardinal30 September 2023
by Pope Francis
RankCardinal-Deacon
Personal details
Born
Agostino Marchetto

(1940-08-28) 28 August 1940 (age 83)
Vicenza, Kingdom of Italy
Previous post(s)Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Madagascar (1985-90)
Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Mauritius (1985-90)
Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Tanzania (1990-94)
Apostolic Nuncio to Belarus (1994-96)
Permanent Observer to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (1999-2001)
Titular Archbishop of Écija (1985-2023)
Alma materPontifical Ecclesiastical Academy
MottoIn patientia cum gaudio
Coat of arms

Agostino Marchetto (born 28 August 1940) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1968 to 1999 and then in the Roman Curia until his retirement in 2010. He is regarded as one of the principal historians of the Second Vatican Council.

Pope Francis made him a cardinal on 30 September 2023.

Early career and diplomacy

Agostino Marchetto was born in Vicenza, Italy, on 28 August 1940. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Vicenza on 28 June 1964.[1]

To prepare for a diplomatic career he entered the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in 1964.[2] He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1968 and worked in the offices of the papal representative to Zambia, Cuba, Algeria, Portugal, and Mozambique.[1]

On 31 August 1985, Pope John Paul II appointed him titular archbishop of Astigi and Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to both Madagascar and Mauritius.[3] He received his episcopal consecration on 1 November 1985 from Cardinal Sebastiano Baggio.[citation needed] On 7 December 1990, Pope John Paul named him Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Tanzania.[4] On 18 May 1994, Pope John Paul named him Apostolic Nuncio to Belarus.[5] He took up a position in the offices of the Secretariat of State in Rome on 16 April 1996.[1]

On 8 July 1999, Pope John Paul appointed him Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the international food and agriculture organizations based in Rome: FAO, IFAD, PAM, and CMA.[6]

Curial official

On 6 November 2001, he was named Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants.[1][7]

In that role he frequently commented on current issues in language calculated to draw headlines. In 2006, Marchetto tied the World Cup in Germany to human trafficking for prostitution, giving “some 'red cards' ... to this industry, to its clients", and the host country. In 2007, he called homelessness a "global pandemic" that merits a global response on the scale of to HIV/AIDS. In 2009, he criticized the Berlusconi government of Italy for repatriating Libyans intercepted at sea. He objected to a new Italian immigration law that made clandestine movement a criminal offense, calling that feature the law's "original sin". He denounced the Sarkozy government in France for expelling Roma people en masse, assigning collective guilt and ignoring individual responsibility.[8]

He resigned his curial position on 25 August 2010.[8]

On 9 July 2023, Pope Francis announced he plans to make him a cardinal at a consistory scheduled for 30 September.[9] At that consistory he was made cardinal deacon of Santa Maria Goretti.[10]

Historian of the Second Vatican Council

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (May 2020)

Marchetto is a prominent interpreter of the Second Vatican Council.

See also

References

Wikiquote has quotations related to Agostino Marchetto.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Agostino Marchetto.
  1. ^ a b c d "Rinunce e Nomine, 06.11.2001" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 6 November 2001. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  2. ^ "Pontificia Accademia Ecclesiastica, Ex-alunni 1950 – 1999" (in Italian). Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  3. ^ Acta Apostolicae Sedis (PDF). Vol. LXXVII. 1985. pp. 922, 1000. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  4. ^ Acta Apostolicae Sedis (PDF). Vol. LXXXIII. 1991. p. 110. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  5. ^ Acta Apostolicae Sedis (PDF). Vol. LXXXVI. 1994. p. 543. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  6. ^ Acta Apostolicae Sedis (PDF). Vol. LXXXXI. 1999. p. 920. Retrieved 23 April 2020. Osservatore Permanente della Santa Sede presso le Organizzazioni e gli Organismi delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura (F.A.O., I.F.A.D., PAM. e CM.A.).
  7. ^ Acta Apostolicae Sedis (PDF). Vol. XCIII. 2001. p. 887. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  8. ^ a b Allen Jr., John L. (3 September 2010). "A Vatican lion who defied conservative/liberal labels". National Catholic Reporter. Archived from the original on 6 September 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  9. ^ "Le parole del Papa alla recita dell'Angelus, 09.07.2023" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  10. ^ "Assignation of Titles and Deaconries to the new Cardinals, 30.09.2023" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. 30 September 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
Categories