Archbishop of Florence

HE Card. Giuseppe Betori
Born on: 25-02-1947 Ordained Priest on: 26-09-1970

Giuseppe Betori, born in Foligno (Perugia) on February 25, 1947, ordained a priest of the diocese of Foligno on September 26, 1970, has been archbishop of Florence since October 26, 2008.

He studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University and at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, where he obtained a doctorate in Sacred Scripture with a thesis later published under the title Persecuted because of the Name. Structures of the accounts of persecution in Acts 1,12-8,4 (Biblical Institute Press, Rome 1981). He is the author of numerous essays on the work of Basilicata, now collected in the volume Affidàti alla Parola.

Research on the Work of Luke (EDB, Bologna 2003) and on themes of biblical hermeneutics and catechetics, he was professor of introduction to Sacred Scripture and New Testament exegesis at the Theological Institute of Assisi. Among the publications of a pastoral nature we highlight: The Word in the time of the mission. Bible, culture, communication (San Paolo, Cinisello Balsamo [Milan] 2007); Announce the Word. The lesson of beginnings (EDB, Bologna 2010); In silence the Word. pastoral letter (Mandragora, Florence 2011); Words and signs to express faith over time, Preface by Gianfranco Ravasi (Le Lettere, Florence 2011). Former director of the national catechetical office and then undersecretary of the Italian Episcopal Conference, he oversaw the publication of various volumes of the catechism of the Italian Church, the organization of the ecclesial convention of Palermo (1995) and that of Verona (2006), the launch and development of the "cultural project", the preparation of the XV World Youth Day (2000).

On 5 April 2001 he was appointed by Pope John Paul II general secretary of the Italian Episcopal Conference and titular bishop of Falerone, receiving episcopal ordination in Foligno from the hands of Cardinal Camillo Ruini on 6 May 2001. On 6 April 2006 Pope Benedict XVI confirmed him general secretary of the Italian Bishops' Conference for a further five years. Appointed archbishop of Florence on 8 September 2008, he concluded his mandate as general secretary of the CEI on 25 September 2008 and entered the archdiocese of Florence on 26 October 2008. On 10 February 2009 he was elected by the Tuscan bishops as president of the Tuscan Episcopal Conference. He is Moderator of the Etruscan Regional Ecclesiastical Tribunal. In the Ordinary Public Consistory of 18 February 2012, Pope Benedict XVI created him Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church with the title of San Marcello.
He is a member of the Congregation for Catholic Education and of the Pontifical Council for Culture.