Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli

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Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli

Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli OFM (born February 5, 1942 in El Khadra , Libya ; † December 30, 2019 in Saccolongo , Italy ) was an Italian religious , Roman Catholic bishop and vicar apostolic of Tripoli .

Life

Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli, the eldest of six children from a Veronese family from San Giovanni Lupatoto , was born in El Khadra , Libya . His father, a farmer, responded to a call from Mussolini, who had given him 40 hectares of African land to grow and raise animals in Libya; the Martinelli family returned to Italy in 1968 after Gaddafi's impending coup.

At the age of 14, after the death of his mother, Martinelli joined the Order of the Franciscans (OFM) in the Convento San Francesco d'Assisi in Vico Equense and was ordained a priest on July 28, 1967 .

Pope John Paul II appointed him Titular Bishop of Tabuda in 1985 and appointed him Vicar Apostolic of the Apostolic Vicariate of Tripoli . The episcopal ordination donated to him on Oct. 4, 1985 Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo Higuera , apostolic delegate in Libya; Co- consecrators were Joseph Mercieca , Archbishop of Malta , and José Antonio Peteiro Freire OFM, Archbishop of Tangier .

After the attack on the La Belle discotheque in Berlin in April 1986, the US Air Force bombed the two largest Libyan cities of Tripoli and Benghazi in Operation El Dorado Canyon , after which Bishop Martinelli was briefly imprisoned.

Unlike many members of the international embassies, Martinelli stayed in Libya during the 2011 civil war . After the air strikes on Tripoli , he reported on dozens of civilians killed in "the so-called humanitarian attacks". Even during the conflict with the so-called Islamic State , he remained in Tripoli, although he was threatened with beheading. He was the last Italian to live in the Libyan capital threatened by IS.

Pope Francis accepted his age-related resignation on February 5, 2017. He last lived in a religious convent in Saccolongo and was buried in the Cathedral of Verona .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ E 'morto monsignor Martinelli, vicario apostolico emerito di Tripoli. In: Vatican News . December 31, 2019, accessed December 31, 2019 (Italian).
  2. ↑ a b c Addio a Martinelli il vescovo veronese vicario a Tripoli. L'Arena, January 1, 2020, accessed January 2, 2020 (Italian).
  3. ^ "Il Convento dei Frati Minori in vico equense" , accessed on March 22, 2011
  4. ↑ Giovanni Cubeddu: “Mediterranean Realism. Interview with the Vicar Apostolic of Tripoli. ” , 30giorni, No. 3 - 2004, accessed on March 22, 2011
  5. ^ “Libya: Bishop wants to stay” , Vatican Radio / Caritas , March 21, 2011
  6. ^ Air strikes in Libya: NATO examines report on civilian casualties in Tripoli
  7. ^ Rinuncia e successione del Vicario Apostolico di Tripoli (Libia). In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office, February 5, 2017, accessed February 5, 2017 (Italian).
predecessor Office successor
Guido Attilio Previtali OFM Vicar Apostolic of Tripoli
1985-2017 		George Bugeja OFM
personal data
SURNAME Martinelli, Giovanni Innocenzo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian religious, Roman Catholic bishop and Vicar Apostolic of Tripoli
DATE OF BIRTH February 5, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH El Khadra , Libya
DATE OF DEATH December 30, 2019
Place of death Saccolongo , Italy