Mariano Crociata

Mariano Crociata (16 March 1953-) is the current Secretary-General of the Italian Episcopal Conference. Before this position he served as Bishop of Noto. The CEI secretary general is the first ever to have come from a southern diocese.
==Early life and ordination==
Born in Castelvetrano near Trapani, Sicily, Crociata was ordained as a priest in 1979. A graduate of the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome, where he was awarded a doctorate in theology.
==Church scholar and pastor==
Crociata ran the theology of religions department at Palermo's prestigious Theological School and has organised a number of conferences including many on Islam. From 2003 he was vicar general of the Diocese of Mazara del Vallo.
==Bishop==
On 16 July 2007 Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as the Bishop of Noto. He was ordained on 6 October 2007. Crociata was on 26 September 2008 appointed by Pope Benedict to fill the post left vacant when Giuseppe Betori was appointed to be the new archbishop of Florence.
Crociata was reportedly nominated on the recommendation of CEI president Angelo Cardinal Bagnasco, who took over the CEI helm in 2007.
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Category:Italian Roman Catholics