Nuncio Negotiates Exit of Italian Bishop, 64, After Vatican Visitation
LoSpiffero.com wrote on August 23 that the Apostolic Nuncio to Italy, Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, has been handling negotiations over Gallese’s exit following an Apostolic Visitation conducted by Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello earlier this year.
Bishop Gallese, who is described as reluctant to leave, had sought a transfer to another diocese, but the proposal was rejected.
Archbishop Peña Parra, who previously served as the Substitute for General Affairs in the Vatican Secretariat of State, offered the bishop several possible “ways out.”
The solution now under discussion would see Bishop Gallese become ecclesiastical assistant to the Collegamento Nazionale Santuari, Italy’s national network of Catholic shrines.
Ansa.it reported that the Apostolic Visitation focused on the administration and finances of the diocese amid controversy over the bishop’s lifestyle. Considerable media attention was also given to his Tesla, motorcycle and enthusiasm for kitesurfing.
The diocese rejected suggestions of financial impropriety.
Spokesman Enzo Governale said the diocese’s accounts were not in deficit and said Gallese’s Tesla had been purchased with the bishop’s personal funds.
No findings from Bertello’s visitation have been published, and the Vatican has announced no finding of financial wrongdoing against Gallese.
Gallese has led Alessandria since 2012, when Pope Benedict XVI appointed him bishop. He was the youngest diocesan bishop in Italy at the time.
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