Francesco Colasuonno

Francesco Cardinal Colasuonno

Cardinal Francesco Colasuonno (born January 2, 1925 in Grumo Appula , Province of Bari , Italy ; † May 31, 2003 ibid) was an Italian clergyman and apostolic nuncio in Italy and San Marino .

Life

Colasuonno visited the seminary of Bari and received on 28 September 1947, the sacrament of Holy Orders . He studied at the University of Bari and the Pontifical Gregorian University . Francesco Colasuonno holds a PhD in Catholic Theology and Canon Law . He later entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See . Pope Paul VI bestowed on him on June 21, 1963 the honorary title of Surplus Chamberlain of His Holiness ( Monsignor ) and on October 17, 1971 the title of Honorary Prelate of His Holiness .

Paul VI appointed him on December 6, 1974. the Titular Archbishop of Truentum and apostolic delegate in Mozambique . He was ordained bishop on February 9, 1975 by the Archbishop of Naples , Cardinal Corrado Ursi ; Co-consecrators were the later cardinals Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy and Anastasio Alberto Ballestrero . In the following years he was first Apostolic Pro-Nuncio in Zimbabwe (1981–85) and Yugoslavia (1985–86), later Apostolic Nuncio in Poland (1986–1990), Apostolic Delegate in the Russian Federation (1990–1994) and Apostolic Nuncio in Italy (1994–1998) and San Marino (1995–1998).

Before and during the end of real socialism in Eastern Europe, Colasuonno was also responsible from Poland for other socialist states such as Czechoslovakia, where the Catholic Church was exposed to severe reprisals and surveillance of its priests. Nevertheless, the communists succeeded in the three episcopal ordinations on 11/12. June 1988, where Colasuonno was the main or co-consecrator: Jan Lebeda , Antonín Liška , Ján Sokol . In August and September 1989 he also consecrated František Vaňák , Josef Koukl and František Tondra .

He also consecrated the bishops Gheorghi Ivanov Jovcev (Bulgaria, July 1988), Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz (Belarus, October 1989), György-Miklós Jakubínyi (Romania, April 1990), Pál Reizer (Romania, May 1990), John Bukovsky in or for Eastern Europe (Romania, October 1990), Jan Purwiński (Ukraine, March 1991), Jan Pawel Lenga (Kazakhstan, May 1991), Jānis Pujats (Latvia, June 1991), Joseph Werth (Russia, June 1991), Jānis Bulis (Latvia, June 1991).

Pope John Paul II accepted Colasuonno on February 21, 1998 as a cardinal deacon with the title deaconry Sant'Eugenio in the college of cardinals .

Cardinal Colasounno died on May 31, 2003 in Grumo Appula and was buried in the local parish church.

literature

• Francesco Colasuonno , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 43/2003 of October 13, 2003, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely accessible)

Web links

• Colasuonno, Francesco. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website), accessed May 13, 2017.
• Entry on Francesco Colasuonno on catholic-hierarchy.org ; accessed on May 13, 2017.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Annuario Pontificio per l'anno 1964 , Città del Vaticano 1964, p. 1243.
2. ↑ Annuario Pontificio per l'anno 1972 , Città del Vaticano 1972, p. 1602.

predecessor	Office	successor
---	Apostolic Delegate in Mozambique 1974–1981	Giacinto Berloco
---	Apostolic Pro-Nuncio in Zimbabwe 1981–1985	Patrick Coveney
Michele Cecchini	Apostolic Pro-Nuncio in Yugoslavia 1985–1986	Gabriel Montalvo Higuera
Luigi Poggi	Apostolic Nuncio in Poland 1986–1990	Józef Kowalczyk
---	Apostolic Delegate in the Russian Federation 1990–1994	John Bukovsky SVD
Carlo Furno	Apostolic Nuncio in Italy 1994–1998	Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo
Pier Luigi Celata	Apostolic Nuncio in San Marino 1995–1998	Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo