‘Don Mimmo’, as he is known, joins the list of cardinals who will receive the red hat on 7 December next. Born in Calabria and Archbishop of Naples, Italy, since 2020, he is well known for his outreach assisting those in need. The number of new cardinals thus returns to 21 following the request not to be made a cardinal by Bishop Syukur of Indonesia.
By Salvatore Cernuzio
21 new cardinals will now receive the red hat at the forthcoming Consistory on 7 December. And Pope Francis has added a new name to the list of future cardinals, that of Archbishop Domenico Battaglia of Naples who has led the Archdiocese since December 2020.
The announcement came late on Monday afternoon from the director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni: “Pope Francis has announced that he has included among the names of the new cardinals who will be created during the next Consistory on 7 December His Excellency Domenico Battaglia, Archbishop of Naples.”
The list of new cardinals returns to 21
As announced at the end of the Angelus on 6 October, the number of new cardinals fell by one following the request not to be made a cardinal by Bishpo Paskalis Bruno Syukur of Bogor, Indonesia, on 22 October who expressed his wish to continue his personal growth “in service to the Church and the people of God” stemming “from a desire to further deepen his priestly life.”
Together with the Italian city of Turin and Archbishop Roberto Repole, a large Italian diocese thus returns to being a cardinalatial See.
Assisting those in need
‘Don Mimmo’, as Archbishop is commonly known and still called, plays a prominent pastoral role in southern Italy, with a background as a ‘street priest’ committed in particular to young people and those struggling with drug addiction. The Pope also called him to be among the members of the two sessions of the Synod on Synodality.
Born in the southern Italian region of Calabria, originally from Satriano, Catanzario, he is 61 years old. Before being appointed as Archbishop of Naples, he served as Bishop of the Diocese of Cerreto Sannita-Telese-Sant’Agata de’ Goti, in the province of Benevento. He completed his studies in philosophy and theology at the Pontifical Regional Seminary “San Pio X” in Catanzaro. Ordained a priest on 6 February 1988, he has been a parish priest, rector, director of diocesan offices and canon over the years. On 24 June 2016 he was appointed by Pope Francis to the episcopal see of Cerreto Sannita -Telese- Sant’Agata de’ Goti. His episcopal consecration took place on 3 September and his installation at the helm of the Benevento community on 2 October 2016, choosing as his episcopal motto the words of Jesus to Bartimaeus – the blind son of Timaeus, who sat by the road begging – ‘Courage, rise, He calls you!’ (‘Confide, surge, vocat te!’).
Archbishop Battaglia’s care for the poor and those on the margins of society stands out. He accompanied people struggling with drug addiction from 1992 to 2016, guiding the ‘Centro Calabrese di Solidarietà’, a centre linked to Don Mario Picchi’s Therapeutic Communities (FICT) of which he was national president from 2006 to 2015. From 2000 to 2006, he also served as vice-president of the Betania Foundation in Catanzaro, a diocesan outreach providing assistance and charity.
In Naples, acclaimed by the local clergy and faithful, the new archbishop introduced himself in his first message ‘as a brother who goes among brothers and sisters’ in a city he called ‘a treasure of the South’ with hopes and challenges, confirming his commitment as a caring shepherd, something he will continue to do as a cardinal.
The College of Cardinals
In the upcoming Consistory, the tenth of Pope Francis, only one of the future cardinals is a non-elector (former nuncio Archbishop Acerbi). With the addition of Archbishop Battaglia, 11 are European of whom 5 are Italian; 6 are from the Americas including 5 South Americans; 3 are Asian; and one is African. As of 7 December, the College of Cardinals will therefore consist of 256 members of whom 141 are electors and 115 are non-electors.
