Cardinal Giuseppe Betori with Pope Francis (Ansa)
Biblical scholar, missionary in Chad for twelve years, chaplain of the Sollicciano prison and parish priest. He is the identikit of the new archbishop of Florence, Don Gherardo Gambellichosen by Pope francesco as successor to Cardinal Giuseppe Betori who led the Tuscan archdiocese for almost sixteen years after having held various leading positions in the Italian Episcopal Conference of which he was general secretary from 2001 to 2008, the year he entered Florence.
Gambelli was born in Viareggio, was ordained a priest in 1996 and will turn 55 on June 23rd. Last September he returned to Florence after twelve years as a missionary fidei donum in Chad and is currently parish priest of the Florentine church of Madonna of the Cough, a parish led from 1954 to 2000 by Don Angelo Chiaroni, who made it one of the centers of the Catholic conciliar left and of ecumenical dialogue in Florence, frequented by figures such as Don Lorenzo Milani, Father Ernesto Balducci, father Benedetto Calati, Mario Gozzini and Luciano Martini. In memory of some city figures, a stained glass window in the church portrays Don Giulio Facibeni, Cardinal Elia dalla Costa and Giorgio La Pira together. After the death of Don Chiaroni, the parish was entrusted to Don Giacomo Stinghicommitted since the 1980s to the recovery of drug addicts and President of the Solidarity Center of Florence (CSF), an organization created by the Florentine Church for the prevention, recovery and assistance of these people. Don Gambelli is also the successor of Don Vincenzo Russo as chaplain of the Sollicciano prison.
«I left for Chad for the first time in September 2011», Gambelli said in an interview with the weekly magazine of the Tuscan dioceses Tuscany Todayi, «returning on average once a year. I spent seven years in the diocese of N’Djamena, the capital of Chad and in the following four years I was at the apostolic vicariate of Mongo, a city in the eastern part of Chad, to support the community in the creation of a real diocese. My journey, however, began way back in 2001, in that period I helped in the national seminary, a structure created in the 90s by the first Jesuit missionaries in Chad, handed over to the Chadian diocesan priests who however did not have enough formators; from then on I left to support a parish in the diocese of N’Djamena and then spent the last four years in Mongo, from which I returned definitively at the end of last February. For me these 12 years in Africa have flown by, although the beginning was a bit difficult due to the diversity of language and culture, it was certainly a very strong experience. But I was rewarded by the joy of a nice welcome, in Africa the guest is sacred and the further away he comes, the more sacred he is.”
In Chad, one of the poorest countries in Africa, Gambelli was apostolic vicar between 2020 and 2023 Mongo to support the community in the creation of a real diocese. Another important challenge, during his stay in Africa, in a Muslim majority area, was that of interreligious dialoguewhich pushed him to collaborate with Florentine initiatives linked to ecumenism.
Before his commitment to Africa, Don Gambelli was parochial vicar of the church of Santo Stefano in Pane in Rifredi (1996-2007); then in 2000 he obtained the License in Biblical Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and until 2006 he was administrator of the Parish of Sant’Andrea in Cercina. Then in 2007 he obtained a Doctorate from the Theological Faculty of Central Italy and was Parish Priest in solid moderator of the Immaculate Conception and San Martino in Montughi (2007-2011).
Pope Francis’ appointment comes two years after the cardinal’s resignation Giuseppe Betori, 77 years old last February, presented for having reached the age limit and which the Pope had accepted by extending it donec aliter provideatur, until, that is, the appointment of the successor.
The announcement was made on Thursday at 12, simultaneously with the Vatican Press Office, in the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore by Cardinal Betori who made it known that he will greet the diocese with a Eucharistic celebration on Sunday 16 June while on 24 June, feast Of St. John BaptistGambelli will be ordained bishop in the Cathedral of Florence and will officially take possession of the diocese.
The last time a Florentine priest led the diocese was the cardinal Silvano Piovanelli, bishop from 1983 to 2001.
«The choice of a priest from Florence is a great sign of trust from the bishop of Rome towards our diocese», stated Don Gherardo Gambelli, immediately after the announcement of his appointment. «I perceived a call from God to make me even more available to repay the immense gift of the Gospel». Gambelli thanked the outgoing archbishop, Cardinal Giuseppe Betori, for his contribution to the life of the Florentine church over the last 15 years, underlining that “his decision to remain in Florence as bishop emeritus fills us with joy”.
«As the Florentine church we are very grateful to the Holy Father for the choice of a Florentine priest as my successor on the chair of Saints Zanobi and Antoninus», said Cardinal Betori after the announcement of the appointment, «the figure of Don Gherardo is perfectly in line with the path of the church today under the leadership of Pope Francis: for this reason I would say that it further strengthens the bond with the church of Rome, with the Pope».
Gambelli «is a priest we know well – explained Betori -, for a strong biblical spirituality which is the soul of everything he has done: a priest who has measured himself with the concreteness of the pastoral life of our diocese both as vicar parish and then twice as parish priest. He is a priest attentive to the dimension of the peripheries, as the Pope likes to say: geographical peripheries, as a missionary in Africa, human peripheries, with attention to prison». Therefore, the cardinal observed, “it seems very beautiful to me that he can bring together these spiritual, pastoral and service-to-the-last dimensions, and that he will now be able to translate all this into an enlightened government of our diocese”. Furthermore, Betori underlined, «he is the fifth bishop, since I have been here, that the Florentine church has donated to the universal church: this time we kept him “in house”. Having proposed to the Holy Father five Florentine priests in 15 years who could take over the leadership of a diocese seems to me to mean that the Pope has a lot of trust in the Florentine church and in the path we have taken in these 15 years.”