Agostino Marchetto
{{short description|Italian prelate of the Catholic Church (born 1940)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Cardinal
| honorific_prefix = His Eminence
| name = Agostino Marchetto
| image = Agostino Marchetto.jpg
| caption = Marchetto in 2018
| title = Cardinal
Secretary Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People
| church = Roman Catholic Church
| appointed = 6 November 2001
| term_end = 25 August 2010
| predecessor = Francesco Gioia
| successor = Joseph Kalathiparambil
| other_post = Cardinal Deacon of Santa Maria Goretti (2023-)
| ordination = 28 June 1964
| ordained_by = Carlo Zinato
| consecration = 1 November 1985
| consecrated_by = Sebastiano Baggio
| cardinal = 30 September 2023
| created_cardinal_by = Pope Francis
| rank = Cardinal-Deacon
| birth_name = Agostino Marchetto
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1940|08|28}}
| birth_place = Vicenza, Kingdom of Italy
| previous_post = 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_mater = Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy
| motto = In patientia cum gaudio
| coat_of_arms =150px
}}
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.{{cite press release | access-date = 23 April 2020 | publisher = Holy See Press Office | url = https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2001/11/06/0606/01792.html | date= 6 November 2001 | language = it | title = Rinunce e Nomine, 06.11.2001}}
To prepare for a diplomatic career he entered the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in 1964.{{cite web|publisher=Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy|language =it|access-date = 23 April 2019 | title = Pontificia Accademia Ecclesiastica, Ex-alunni 1950 – 1999|url = https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_academies/acdeccles/documents/1950-1999.htm }} 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.
On 31 August 1985, Pope John Paul II appointed him titular archbishop of Astigi and Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to both Madagascar and Mauritius.{{cite book| url = http://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-77-1985-ocr.pdf |access-date = 23 April 2020 |title = Acta Apostolicae Sedis | date= 1985 | volume = LXXVII| pages= 922, 1000}} He received his episcopal consecration on 1 November 1985 from Cardinal Sebastiano Baggio.{{cn|date=May 2020}} On 7 December 1990, Pope John Paul named him Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Tanzania.{{cite book|url = http://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-83-1991-ocr.pdf |access-date = 23 April 2020| title = Acta Apostolicae Sedis | date= 1991 | volume = LXXXIII | page= 110 }} On 18 May 1994, Pope John Paul named him Apostolic Nuncio to Belarus.{{cite book| url = http://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-86-1994-ocr.pdf |access-date = 23 April 2020| title = Acta Apostolicae Sedis | date= 1994 | volume = LXXXVI | page= 543 }} He took up a position in the offices of the Secretariat of State in Rome on 16 April 1996.
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.{{cite book| url = http://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-91-1999-ocr.pdf |access-date = 23 April 2020| title = Acta Apostolicae Sedis | date= 1999 | volume = LXXXXI | page= 920 | quote = 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.). }}
Curial official
On 6 November 2001, he was named Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants.{{cite book | access-date = 23 January 2020 | url = http://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-93-2001-ocr.pdf | page= 887| date= 2001 | volume = XCIII |title = Acta Apostolicae Sedis }}
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.
On 9 July 2023, Pope Francis announced he plans to make him a cardinal at a consistory scheduled for 30 September.{{cite press release | access-date = 9 July 2023| publisher = Holy See Press Office | language = it | title = Le parole del Papa alla recita dell'Angelus, 09.07.2023 | url = https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2023/07/09/0502/01116.html }} At that consistory he was made cardinal deacon of Santa Maria Goretti.{{cite press release | access-date = 1 October 2023 | date = 30 September 2023 | url = https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2023/09/30/230930b.html | title = Assignation of Titles and Deaconries to the new Cardinals, 30.09.2023 | publisher = Holy See Press Office}}
Historian of the Second Vatican Council
{{Expand section|date=May 2020}}
Marchetto is a prominent interpreter of the Second Vatican Council and has been described by Pope Francis as "the best hermeneutician of the Second Vatican Council".{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2014-03-06 |title=Mons. Agostino Marchetto, «il migliore ermeneuta del Concilio Vaticano II» |url=https://alleanzacattolica.org/mons-agostino-marchetto-il-migliore-ermeneuta-del-concilio-vaticano-ii/ |access-date= |website=Alleanza Cattolica |language=it-IT}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{wikiquote}}
{{commonscat}}
- [https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/documentation/cardinali_biografie/cardinali_bio_marchetto_a.html Biography on the website of the Holy See]
{{College of Cardinals}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marchetto, Agostino}}
Category:Religious leaders from the Province of Brescia
Category:Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy alumni
Category:Apostolic nuncios to Madagascar
Category:Apostolic nuncios to Tanzania
Category:Apostolic nuncios to Mauritius
Category:Apostolic nuncios to Belarus
Category:Officials of the Roman Curia
Category:Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II