The superior of Somaschi named archbishop of San Giovanni Rotondo | Liguria | vatican_insider

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The superior general of religious father Somaschi, Franco Moscone, 61, was today named archbishop of Manfredonia-Vieste-San Giovanni Rotondo by the pope. The post was vacant
Death of Monseigneur Michele Castoro, who died on May 5th at the age of 66
, a few weeks after the visit of the Pontiff who wanted to pay homage to the mortal remains of Padre Pio, after having also visited his hometown of Pietrelcina.

The only work of the Archbishop of San Giovanni Rotondo, president of the Hospital Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, founded by Padre Pio and today research institute (Irccs) appreciated at the scientific level all over the world and guided by prayer groups spread across five continents.

Father Moscone was born in Alba (Piedmont) in 1957, ordained priest in 1984 by Bishop Vallainc to Serralunga of Alba, the village of his family where his mother still lives. He studied at the Bachelor of Theology at Sant Anselmo in Rome and in 1991 he obtained a degree in Literature and Philosophy in Turin. In 2002, he was elected Provincial Vicar and General of Somaschi. In 2008, he was elected special general of the Congregation, a responsibility entrusted to him in 2011 and 2017.

In a letter addressed to relatives, friends and acquaintances – circulated by the local press – the new archbishop asks to call him monsignor or excellence: "I would like to continue being called father". And instead of gifts to his person, he invites to support the collection that his confreres Somaschi opened for the inhabitants of Kerala (India) hit by a serious flood. "Even though I must physically give up my family and religious home, I do not lose communion.In spirit, soul and heart, I am and remain the son of the Church in Alba and the religious somasco forever: these are my first fundamental calls of the Lord ".

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