Crescenzio Sepe

His Eminence  Crescenzio Sepe
Cardinal-Archbishop of Naples
Province	Naples
See	Naples
Enthroned	1 July 2006 (&100000000000000050000005 years, &10000000000000144000000144 days)
Reign ended	incumbent
Predecessor	Michele Giordano
Other posts	Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (2001-2006) Secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy (1992-2001)
Orders
Ordination	12 March 1967
Consecration	26 April 1992
Created Cardinal	21 February 2001
Rank	Cardinal-Priest of Dio Padre misericordioso
Personal details
Born	2 June 1943 Carinaro, Caserta
Signature	Crescenzio Sepe's signature

Styles of Crescenzio Sepe
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Naples

Crescenzio Sepe (born 2 June 1943) is an Italian Cardinal and Archbishop of Naples. He was Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples until 20 May 2006.^[1] Earlier, he served as a priest in Italy and Brazil.

Biography

Early life and ordination

Born at Carinaro, in the province of Caserta, he was ordained for the Diocese of Aversa on 12 March 1967 and holds degrees in theology and canon law from the Pontifical Lateran University and in philosophy from the University of Rome La Sapienza. He taught theology at the Lateran and Urbanian Pontifical Universities and then studied at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy.

Career in the Curia

He joined the diplomatic service of the Holy See and was posted to Brazil from 1972 to 1975, when he was recalled to the Secretariat of State, becoming Assessor for General Affairs in 1987. Sepe was appointed Secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy and Titular Archbishop of Gradum on 2 April 1992.

On 3 November 1997, he was named General Secretary of the Central Committee for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. He was President of Peregrinatio ad Petri Sedem from 8 November 1997 until July 2001. On 9 April 2001 he was named Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. He is also the Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical Urban University. Created and proclaimed Cardinal-Deacon of Dio Padre misericordioso by Pope John Paul II in the Consistory of 21 February 2001. He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI.

Curial membership:

• Clergy, Doctrine of the Faith (congregations)
• Social Communications, Interreligious Dialogue, Christian Unity, Legislative Texts (councils)
• Latin America (commission)
• Special Council for Asia of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops

A statue of Sepe

Cardinal-Archbishop of Naples

He was appointed Archbishop of Naples and his Cardinal-Deaconry was elevated pro hac vice to Cardinal-Priest on 20 May 2006 (it was too early for him to opt for the order of cardinal priests).

Cardinal Sepe's move to Naples from the prefect's post at the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples made him the first head of a Roman dicastery in decades to be dispatched to a diocese and, in the eyes of some, the first casualty of Pope Benedict's purge of the church's administration.

Cardinal Sepe has been a member of Facebook, where he collected the maximum of 5,000 friends.

In June 2010, Sepe was under investigation by Perugia's public prosecutor's office over alleged corruption cases.^[2] Media reports alleged that during his time as prefect, various “Propaganda Fide” apartments were made available, free or for a very low rent, to a variety of public figures including politicians, lawyers and journalists. However, Cardinal Sepe has reportedly said that he has “nothing to hide” and he is expected to waive his Vatican extraterritorial privilege in order to meet investigators.^[3]

Cardinal Sepe said^{[citation needed]} in the homily at his morning Mass, appeared^[who?] to refer implicitly to the probe, speaking of the "many martyrs" who, "in the name of truth and of Christ, remained faithful to his Gospel when they were tortured, humiliated and disrespected." He continued saying "We must not be afraid," he said, according to an Italian wire report. After Calvary, there will be the light of the resurrection."

Views

Clerical celibacy

Many of his memorable statements came from 1995 to 1997 and involved disagreement with the idea of ending the celibate priesthood.

In 1997 he said a relaxing of the celibacy rule for Latin Rite priests would not ease the vocations crisis and would have no theological or pastoral foundation. Linked to his position he also is active in evangelizing efforts.

Priest-sharing program

In 1995 he helped implement a priest-sharing program among dioceses worldwide to help redress the geographical imbalance in vocations.

Return of priests

In that year he further said that the Vatican was facilitating the return of hundreds of priests who had left the active ministry and married in civil ceremonies, but who were now divorced or widowed and were “sincerely sorry” for having strayed from their vocation.

Crime in Naples

As Archbishop in 2007 he called on "the youth of Italy's murder capital to unsheathe [their] courage and hand over their knives in church, anonymously and without penalty" [1].

References

1. ^ "Vatican appoints seasoned diplomat to direct church's worldwide missionary work". Malaysia Star. AP. 20 May 2006. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/5/20/apworld/20060520211758&sec=apworld. Retrieved 30 August 2010. 
2. ^ "Corruzione, indagati Sepe e Lunardi", La Stampa, 19 June 2010.
3. ^ Cardinal may be witness in 'favours' case

Preceded by Jozef Tomko	Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples 2001–2006	Succeeded by Ivan Dias
Preceded by Michele Giordano	Archbishop of Naples 20 May 2006–present	Succeeded by incumbent

Persondata
Name	Sepe, Crescenzio
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Date of birth	2 June 1943
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