Joseph Marino
Joseph Salvador Marino (born January 23, 1953 in Birmingham) is the Apostolic Nuncio for Bangladesh, appointed January 13, 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI.
Joseph, the son of Salvador and Josephine Marino grew up in Ensley, attending St Joseph's Elementary School and graduating from John Carroll Catholic High School in 1971. As a boy, Marino liked to "play church" with vestments and an altar made by his parents.
From there, Marino went to Scranton, Pennsylvania to study at the St Pius X Seminary and the Jesuit University, earning a bachelor's degree in philosophy and psychology. He then attended the North American College in Rome and the Gregorian University.
Marino was ordained a priest in the Catholic Diocese of Birmingham on August 25, 1979, but returned to Rome to complete his degree in biblical theology. In 1980 he returned to Birmingham's Cathedral of St Paul as an associate pastor. In 1982 he was assigned to work part time as campus minister at UAB and also taught at John Carroll. In 1984 he began training for the Vatican diplomatic service at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. At the same time, he completed another degree in canon law at the Gregorian University.
Marino began his diplomatic career with an assignment to the Vatican embassy in the Philippines in 1988. He was transfered to Montevideo, Uruguay in 1991, and then to Lagos, Nigeria in 1994. In 1997 he began working throughout the Balkans and was a member of the Vatican delegation sent by Pope John Paul II to Belgrade on April 1, 1999 to help resolve the Kosovo Conflict. He was later sent to Washington D. C. to plead for peace at the start of the United States' invasion of Iraq. Before his appointment to Bangladesh, his most recent posting was to the Vatican Embassy in London, England, where he worked ad a counselor.
As part of his assignment to the Bangladeshi Papal Nuncio, Martino was elevated to the title of Archbishop and given the titular see of Natchitoches, Louisiana. The ordination took place at St Paul's on March 29, 2008.
References
- "Pope appoints American as new Nuncio for Bangladesh." (January 14, 2008) Catholic News Agency.
- Garrison, Greg (January 19, 2008) "Monsignor Marino to be Bangladesh papal nuncio." Birmingham News
- Leech, Marie (March 30, 2008) "Birmingham native ordained as archbishop, will be pope's ambassador in Bangladesh." Birmingham News
External links
- Joseph Marino at Catholic-hierarchy.org