Ricardo Ezzati Andrello
Encyclopedia
Ricardo Ezzati Andrello SDB
Salesians of Don Bosco
The Salesians of Don Bosco is a Roman Catholic religious order founded in the late nineteenth century by Saint John Bosco in an attempt, through works of charity, to care for the young and poor children of the industrial revolution...

 (born 7 January 1942) is the Archbishop of Santiago
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile
The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile is part of the Roman Catholic Church in Chile. The current Archbishop is Ricardo Ezzati Andrello...

 since his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...

 on 15 December 2010. He was informed of the decision on 7 December 2010. He had previously served as Archbishop of Concepción
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Concepción
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Concepción is an archdiocese located in the city of Concepción in Chile.-History:* March 22, 1563: Established as Diocese of La Imperial from the Diocese of Santiago de Chile* 1603: Renamed as Diocese of Concepción...

.

Early life & education

Ezzati Andrello was born in Campiglia Berici, Vicenza
Vicenza
Vicenza , a city in north-eastern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione...

, Italy. He arrived in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

 in 1959. He entered the Novitiate
Novitiate
Novitiate, alt. noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a novice monastic or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether they are called to the religious life....

 of the Salesians in Quilpué, Valparaíso
Valparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...

 where he studied philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 at the Catholic University of Valparaíso, and theology at the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, where he obtained the licentiate
Licentiate
Licentiate is the title of a person who holds an academic degree called a licence. The term may derive from the Latin licentia docendi, meaning permission to teach. The term may also derive from the Latin licentia ad practicandum, which signified someone who held a certificate of competence to...

. He made his Final Vows as a Salesian on 30 December 1966 and was ordained as a priest of the Salesian order on 18 March 1970. After his ordination he received a Licentiate in Religious Studies at the Institut de Pastoral Catéchetique in Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...

 and the title of Professor of Religion and Philosophy at the Catholic University of Valparaíso.

Priesthood

As a Salesian priest of the Chilean province, he held the following positions: Director for Youth Ministry in the Salesian School in Valdivia, Director of Community for the Salesians in Concepcion, Chile, Member of the Provincial Council of the Chilean Salesians, Director of the Salesian Seminary of Santiago de Chile, and Inspector Provincial of the Salesians in Chile. He has also been a teacher in the Faculty of Theology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile is one of the six Catholic Universities existing in the Chilean university system and one of the two Pontifical Universities in the country, along with the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso. It is also one of Chile's oldest universities and...

 and Vice President of the Conference of Religious of Chile and has participated in the General Chapters of the Salesian Congregation in 1984 and 1990.

Episcopate

In 1991, he was appointed an official of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
The Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life is the congregation of the Roman Curia responsible for everything which concerns institutes of consecrated life and Society of Apostolic Life regarding their government, discipline, studies, goods, rights, and...

. He was appointed as the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Valdivia, Chile, on 28 June 1996, by the then-Holy Father
Holy Father
Holy Father may refer to:*God the Father, the title given to the god of many monotheistic religions*The Pope, the leader of the Catholic Church*The Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the head of that church...

 Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...

. He was ordained to the episcopacy on 8 September 1996.

In an unusual (but not unprecedented) move, on 10 July 2001, he was appointed Titular Bishop
Titular bishop
A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese.By definition a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop the tradition of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches is that he be ordained for a specific place...

 of La Imperial and Auxiliary Bishop
Auxiliary bishop
An auxiliary bishop, in the Roman Catholic Church, is an additional bishop assigned to a diocese because the diocesan bishop is unable to perform his functions, the diocese is so extensive that it requires more than one bishop to administer, or the diocese is attached to a royal or imperial office...

 of the much larger Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile. He served as an Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile until 27 December 2006, when he was appointed as the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Concepción. In June 2009, Archbishop Ezzati Andrello was named by the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...

, along with four other prelates, to be Apostolic Visitors to the Legionaries of Christ after the revelations of the alternative pedophiliac lifestyle of Father Marciel Maciel Degollado, the order's founder, and an associate of John Paul II. He will carry out the investigation of the order in Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela, where the Legion has 20 houses, 122 priests and 122 religious seminarians.

As the archbishop of Concepción, Ezzati Andrello played a crucial role in ending the 82-day hunger strike of 34 Mapuche
Mapuche
The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...

 prisoners, which ended on 1 October 2010.

Pope Benedict appointed Ezzati Andrello as Metropolitan Archbishop of Santiago de Chile, and as such, the de facto Primate of the Catholic Church in Chile
Roman Catholicism in Chile
The Catholic Church in Chile is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope, the curia in Rome, and the Chilean Bishops Conference....

. He replaced Cardinal Errázuriz Ossa, whose resignation was accepted having reached the canonical
Canon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...

 age limit of 75. Archbishop Ezzati Andrello took possession of the city of Santiago de Chile on 15 January 2011, during a mass at the Archdiocesan Cathedral. He received the pallium from Pope Benedict in Rome as a new Metropolitan Archbishop on 29 June 2011, the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul.

It is thought that when Cardinal Errázuriz Ossa turns 80 years old and loses the right to participate in a papal conclave, there is a good chance that Archbishop Ezzati Andrello will then be named a Cardinal in a consistory. The Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile has an area of 9,132, an overall population of 5,791,000, a Catholic population of 4,019,000, 854 priests, 295 permanent deacons, and 3,100 religious.

See also

  • Sexual abuse scandal in the Legion of Christ
    Sexual abuse scandal in the Legion of Christ
    The sexual abuse scandal of Father Marcial Maciel involves accusations against him, the leader of the Legion of Christ for many decades. It has been linked with the series of Catholic sex abuse cases in some Western jurisdictions and led to his denunciation by the Vatican.In March, 2010, the Legion...

  • Controversies surrounding the Legion of Christ
    Controversies surrounding the Legion of Christ
    There are several controversies surrounding the Legion of Christ, including recruiting practices, property disputes, alleged elitism, and abuse scandals.-Recruiting practices:...

  • Roman Catholicism in Chile
    Roman Catholicism in Chile
    The Catholic Church in Chile is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope, the curia in Rome, and the Chilean Bishops Conference....

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK