Giuseppe Betori | |
|---|---|
| Cardinal, Archbishop of Florence | |
 | |
| Church | Roman Catholic Church |
| Archdiocese | Florence |
| See | Florence |
| Appointed | 8 September 2008 |
| Installed | 26 October 2008 |
| Predecessor | Ennio Antonelli |
| Other post(s) | Cardinal-Priest of San Marcello (2012-) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 26 September 1970 by Siro Silvestri |
| Consecration | 6 May 2001 by Camillo Ruini |
| Created cardinal | 18 February 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI |
| Rank | Cardinal-Priest |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Giuseppe Betori 25 February 1947 |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Previous post(s) |
|
| Motto | Deo et Verbo Gratiae (Acts 20:32) |
| Signature |  |
| Coat of arms |  |
| Styles of Giuseppe Betori | |
|---|---|
| |
| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | Florence |
Giuseppe Betori (born 25 February 1947 in Foligno, Italy) is an Italian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the archbishop of Florence and the former Secretary General of the Italian Episcopal Conference.
He was ordained a 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 from 1996 to 2001.[1]
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.
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.[2] 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 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. Betori and witnesses stated that the gunman said something as he gestured toward the prelate with his firearm, but they could not understand his intent.[3]
On 10 December 2011 he was appointed a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture for a five-year renewable term.[4]
On 6 January 2012 it was announced that Betori would become a cardinal on 18 February. He was created Cardinal-Priest of San Marcello. In addition to his duties at Culture, Betori was appointed a member of the Congregation for Catholic Education. On 17 May 2014, Pope Francis nominated him a member of the Pontifical Council of the Laity.[5]
He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2013 papal conclave that elected Pope Francis.
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.[6]
Betori has favoured 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.[7]
According to Abbé Claude Barthe, Betori is a member of the paleoliberal wing of the Roman Curia, who along with Giovanni Battista Re, constituted a kind of internal curial opposition to the decisions and policies of Pope Benedict XVI.[8]
