Vatican City, Jan 31, 2012 / 11:55 am
Bishop Francesco Moraglia was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to the important post of Patriarch of Venice on Jan. 31. Despite the enormity of the job, he trusts God will help him succeed.
Bishop Moraglia, 59, told Vatican Radio that when the Pope asked him to move to Venice his “mood at the time was one of trepidation.”
But that quickly changed after he “went to the chapel and talked to the Lord in the tabernacle, saying, ‘In the end you are there, and so I trust in you.’”
During the 20th century, three former Patriarchs of Venice have gone on to occupy the papacy – Pope Pius X, Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul I.
The new patriarch hails from Genoa, Italy and was ordained to the priesthood in 1977. Since being ordained he has taught dogmatic theology at various Catholic institutions in northwestern Italy. He has also served as an assistant pastor in a Genoese parish. He was ordained as Bishop of La Spezia-Sarzana-Brugnato in 2008.
The veteran Italian religious commentator Sandro Magister describes Bishop Moraglia as “without a shadow of a doubt a ‘Ratzingerian’ in both theology and liturgy.” He also calls him a “man of culture,” who is also keen to advocate the plight of the most vulnerable in society including, at present, those families facing economic difficulties.