Giovanni Bernardo Gremoli

Emeritus Vicar Apostolic of Arabia
ChurchCatholic Church
DioceseMasuccaba
SeeApostolic Vicariate of Arabia
Installed2 October 1975
Term ended21 March 2005
PredecessorIrzio Luigi Magliacani, OFM Cap.
SuccessorPaul Hinder, OFM Cap.
Orders
Ordination4 July 1967
Consecration22 February 1976
by Agnelo Cardinal Rossi
Personal details
Born
Giovanni Bernardo Gremoli

(1926-06-30)June 30, 1926
Poppi, Italy
DiedJuly 6, 2017(2017-07-06) (aged 91)
Florence, Italy
BuriedPoppi, Toscana, Italy
Alma materPontifical Urbanian University, Rome.
Ordination history of
Giovanni Bernardo Gremoli
History
Priestly ordination
Date17 February 1951
Episcopal consecration
Principal consecratorCardinal Agnelo Rossi
Co-consecratorsBishop Giovanni Bianchi
Bishop Telesforo Giovanni Cioli,, O. Carm.
Date22 February 1976
Styles of
Giovanni Bernardo Gremoli
Reference style
Spoken styleYour Excellency
Religious styleBishop

Giovanni Bernardo Gremoli (30 June 1926 6 July 2017) was a Roman Catholic bishop. Born in Italy, Gremoli was ordained to the priesthood in 1951. Gremoli served as titular bishop of Masuccaba and was Vicar Apostolic of Arabia from 1976 to 2005. During this time, he spent a lot of time in St. Joseph's Cathedral, Abu Dhabi and[1] he is one of the people credited with establishing the presence of the Catholic church in the Arabian Peninsula.[2] He was succeeded by Paul Hinder.

Life

Giovanni Gremoli was born on 30 June 1926 in Poppi (Arezzo) in Italy, the second of six children, and grew up on his family's large farm. In 1942 he entered the Capuchins of the Tuscan Province and made his first religious profession on 15 August 1943. On 17 February 1951, he was ordained a priest in Florence. He then specialized in missiology and obtained a degree in canon law at the Pontifical Urbanian University in Rome.[3]

In 1954 he was appointed mission secretary of the Capuchins in Florence to look after the interests of their missions in India, the Gulf, and Africa, a post he held until he was appointed Apostolic Vicar of Arabia on 2 October 1975. To improve his English which was essential for his task, he spent some weeks in Ireland before his episcopal ordination in Florence on 22 February 1976.

Time in Arabia

On 21 March 1976, Gremoli arrived in Abu Dhabi, which after the expulsion of the mission personnel from Aden, had become the official residence of the Apostolic Vicar of Arabia. He was the first Bishop who resided in the Gulf, while the seven previous apostolic vicars all had their headquarters in Aden.[4]

He remained for 29 years as Bishop of the world's largest jurisdiction until he returned to Italy for his retirement on 22 May 2005.[5] Since then, he lived in the Capuchin friary of Montughi in Florence until his death.[6]

Death

Gremoli died on 6 July 2017 in Florence at the age of 91. His funeral was held on 8 July 2017 at the Capuchin Friary at Montughi, Florence.[6]

References

  1. "Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia, United Arab Emirates". GCatholic.org.
  2. Tale of Tolerance, retrieved 2022-07-05
  3. "Bishop Bernard Giovanni Gremoli passes away". The Daily Tribune. 2017-07-07.
  4. "Bishop Giovanni Bernardo Gremoli [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2021-04-04.
  5. "United Arab Emirates". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 2021-04-08.
  6. 1 2 "Bishop Bernard Giovanni Gremoli (91) passes away". Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia. Retrieved 2021-04-04.
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