Mauro Piacenza

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His Eminence
Mauro Piacenza
JCD
Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary
File:Card-piac3.jpg
Piacenza in 2013.
Church Roman Catholic Church
Appointed 21 September 2013
Predecessor Manuel Monteiro de Castro
Other posts Cardinal-Priest 'pro hac vice' of San Paolo alle Tre Fontane (2021-)
Orders
Ordination 21 December 1969
by Giuseppe Siri
Consecration 15 November 2003
by Tarcisio Bertone
Created Cardinal 20 November 2010
by Benedict XVI
Rank Cardinal-Deacon (2010-21)
Cardinal-Priest (2021-)
Personal details
Birth name Mauro Piacenza
Born (1944-09-15) 15 September 1944 (age 79)
Genoa, Kingdom of Italy
Nationality Italian
Denomination Catholic (Roman Rite)
Previous post
Alma mater Pontifical Lateran University
Motto Una quies in veritate
Coat of arms Mauro Piacenza's coat of arms

Mauro Piacenza JCD (born 15 September 1944) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church. A cardinal since 2010, he has served as Penitentiary Major of the Apostolic Penitentiary since his appointment by Pope Francis on 21 September 2013. He was Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy from 7 October 2010 to 21 September 2013. where he had been Secretary since 2007. At that Congregation, Pope Benedict XVI, according to one report, valued "his efficiency and in-depth knowledge of how the Congregation worked and its problems" and "his traditionalist ecclesiastical line of thought".[1]

Styles of
Mauro Piacenza
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Reference style His Eminence
Spoken style Your Eminence
Informal style Cardinal

Early life

Piacenza was born in Genoa. After studying at the Major Archiepiscopal Seminary of Genoa, he was ordained to the priesthood by Giuseppe Siri on 21 December 1969. He then completed his studies at the Pontifical Lateran University, where he obtained a doctorate summa cum laude in canon law.

After serving as a parochial vicar, he worked as chaplain to the University of Genoa. Piacenza taught canon law at the Theological Faculty of Northern Italy and held several other posts, serving as the archbishop's press officer. He was the diocesan assistant of the ecclesial Movement of Cultural Commitment. He served as professor of contemporary culture and history of atheism at the Ligurian Higher Institute of Religious Studies as well as professor of dogmatic theology at the Diocesan Institute of Theology for the Lay "Didascaleion". He also taught theology at several state schools. He was made a canon of the Genoa Cathedral in 1986.

Service in the Roman Curia

He joined the staff of the Congregation for the Clergy in 1990[1] and was named its Undersecretary on 11 March 2000.

On 13 October 2003, Pope John Paul II appointed Piacenza President of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church and Titular Bishop of Victoriana.[2] He received his episcopal consecration on 15 November from Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, with Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos and Bishop Alberto Tanasini as co-consecrators.

He was named president of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archeology on 28 August 2004.[3] He was appointed secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy and raised to the rank of archbishop on 7 May 2007.[4] That appointment has been interpreted as Pope Benedict's way of positioning a thoroughly orthodox secretary to monitor the work of his superior, the far more liberal Cardinal Claudio Hummes.[5] He was appointed Prefect of that Congregation on 7 October 2010.[6] His appointment was unusual as few who serve as secretary are appointed prefect of the same dicastery.[citation needed]

On 20 November 2010 Pope Benedict XVI made him Cardinal-Deacon of San Paolo alle Tre Fontane[7] and, on 29 December 2010, appointed him a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the Congregation for Catholic Education, and the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.[8]

He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2013 papal conclave that elected Pope Francis.[9]

Piacenza, like all officers of the Roman Curia, lost his position with the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. Pope Francis reappointed them temporarily[10] and then moved Piacenza from his position as Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy to head the Apostolic Penitentiary on 21 September 2013.[11] His new role was described as "a decidedly lower command post" as head of "a little-known Vatican tribunal that deals with confessions of sins so grave only a pope can grant absolution, such as the case of a priest who violates confessional secrecy".[12] He had arrived years earlier at the Congregation for the Clergy as a check upon the Congregation's prefect Cardinal Hummes, one of Pope Francis' closest allie's.[5]

After ten years at the rank of cardinal deacon, he exercised his option to assume the rank of cardinal priest, which Pope Francis confirmed on 3 May 2021.[13]

References

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External links

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Antonio Silvestrelli
Undersecretary of the Congregation for the Clergy
11 March 2000 – 13 October 2003
Succeeded by
Giovanni Carrù
Preceded by — TITULAR —
Titular Bishop of Victoriana
13 October 2003 – 7 May 2007
Himself as Titular Archbishop
Preceded by President of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church
13 October 2003 – 7 May 2007
Succeeded by
Gianfranco Ravasi
Preceded by President of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology
28 August 2004 – 3 September 2007
Himself as Titular Bishop Titular Archbishop of Victoriana
7 May 2007 – 20 November 2010
Succeeded by
Giuseppe Sciacca
Preceded by
Csaba Ternyák
Secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy
7 May 2007 – 7 October 2010
Succeeded by
Celso Morga Iruzubieta
Preceded by Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy
7 October 2010 – 21 September 2013
Succeeded by
Beniamino Stella
Titular church established Cardinal-Deacon of San Paolo alle Tre Fontane
20 November 2010 –
Incumbent
Preceded by Major Penitentiary
21 September 2013 –