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Finally, after weeks of indiscretions, the news is official: Don Mimmo Battaglia he is the new archbishop of Naples. Thus ends the era of Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe in the Neapolitan capital. Native of Satriano, province of Catanzaro, Battaglia is currently bishop of Cerreto Sannita, a small diocese in the province of Benevento. Once again, Pope Francis creates a breaking point. all naming a prelate who distinguished himself, in his ecclesiastical career, by his care for the poor, to lead an Italian archdiocese. The official handover will take place in two months, so it is very likely that Sepe will continue to lead the Christmas rites.
Fifty seven years priest since 1988Bishop Battaglia directed the Calabrian Solidarity Center until 2016, a community for the recovery of drug addicts, while from 2000 to 2006 he was president of the work of the diocese of Catanzaro that deals with the fight against poverty. For almost ten years he was president of the national body that brings together all therapeutic communities for drug addicts.
Precisely because of his great commitment to the latter, the pontiff appointed him bishop in 2016, assigning him the headquarters of Cerreto Sannita – Telese – Sant’Agata de’Goti, where he took office only after visiting the headquarters of the penal institute. for minors of Airola. In Campania he has not abandoned his old habits: more than “excellence” he prefers to be called “Don Mimmo” and has paid much attention, in recent years, to caring for the weakest in the area rather than to being in good salons, at inaugurations, at conferences .
A “priest of the last”, therefore, perhaps just what was needed for a large and complex archdiocese such as that of Naples, which has a million and a half faithful and in which the social problems to face are enormous. A profoundly different profile to that of Cardinal Sepe, who instead had spent most of his ecclesiastical career in prominent positions in the Roman Curia. The episcopal motto of Don Battaglia is “Trust, get up, call you” which is “Have faith, get up, he calls you”, which are the words that the disciples of Jesus direct to a blind man to approach him to be healed.
Two and a half years after the limits established by the Church to leave the episcopal see, Sepe leaves Naples. Pope Francis never let his support be lacking, not even when the now-Archbishop Emeritus was accused of covering up some sex scandals, keeping him in office well past the deadline. Naples, therefore, will no longer be the headquarters of the cardinals, since Sepe already arrived there with purple, while Battaglia may never be. Pope Francis, in fact, eliminated the custom of automatism by which the archbishops of some important Italian dioceses were appointed cardinals at the first useful opportunity. For example, the Patriarch of Venice and the Archbishops of Turin and Palermo are not cardinals today, apart from Naples.
“Domenico Battaglia is a true shepherd,” he commented. Mr. Luigi Ciotti, President of Libera, describing him as “a spiritual guide capable of immersing himself in the history of peoples, beginning with the most fragile, poor, forgotten. A shepherd also for many young people, whose needs, aspirations and anxieties he knows how to intercept. A point of reference. at the same time a concrete and coherent witness to the Gospel: few words and many deeds, those deeds embodied in the Word of God ”, added Don Ciotti.
Archbishop, Mayor’s welcome: “Maximum collaboration”
To welcome the new archbishop to Naples Mimmo Battaglia is the mayor Luigi De Magistris: “I am very happy with the appointment of Don Mimmo Battaglia as Archbishop of Naples – he says -” I personally knew Mimmo Battaglia when he was a magistrate in Calabria and I have always appreciated his constant closeness to the weakest and the most fragile. Simple and humble man but with strong charisma and personality. I think it can better embody the profound words of Pope Francis. We will guarantee the maximum cooperation to Don Mimmo Battaglia possible with the aim of the unity of the Neapolitan people in such a difficult time. Together we will work to reduce inequalities and build a stronger community brotherhood. We welcome Don Mimmo Battaglia to our beloved city with a huge heart ”.
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