www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News Italo-Albanian Bishop Retires

Weak Eparchy

Like many Arbëresh, I learn with deep sorrow the news of the appointment as Apostolic Administrator of the Eparchy of Lungro Archbishop of Cosenza, SERev.ma Salvatore Nunnari. My considerations are not obviously related to or connected person of the Archbishop Nunnari and I wish to make in Lungro a good job and quickly.

This appointment, which was rumored for months, comes to around two years from resignation reached retirement age by HE Mgr Ercole Lupinacci. Although a temporary assignment (although nobody knows how long it will last), it is a humiliating act for the whole community arbëreshe now back a hundred years, when our priests were under the jurisdiction of the Latin bishops. The sacred right to have a bishop for Arbëresh, independent and subject only to the Holy See, was the subject of requests by our ancestors for 400 years and today is as vital as that autonomy threatened. Yet this condition could be avoided as the apostolic administrator indicating a priest Eparchy. This was already the death of S.E. Bishop John Rev.ma Stamati (June 7, 1987) such an assignment was given to the then Archimandrite Protosincello Mario Drums Peter who held the Eparchy as Apostolic Administrator until January 17, 1988, date of the installation of SE Rev.ma Mgr Ercole Lupinacci. It 'very strange to think that in almost two years, it was not possible either to choose a new bishop in the sanctuary identify a eparchial our papas able to play decently the task administrator. In the alternative, in Lungro should have been sent as a bishop or administrator of the Byzantine rite Archbishop pending the appointment of a successor eparchy Hercules.

The motivations that led the Roman Curia to take this decision can venture several hypotheses. However, while limited to the facts, the picture that shows the status of the appointments in the Church Italo-Albanian and Greek-Italian in Italy is very worrying:
Monastery of Grottaferrata Exarchs:
Papal Delegate, Archbishop Pius Tamburrino since 1994
Eparchy of Piana:
Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Pius Tamburrino ever since June 6, 2010
Eparchy of Lungro
Archbishop Salvatore Nunnari Apostolic Administrator since August 10, 2010

It should be obvious that a church will not have the Italo-Albanian weak in the medium term benefit to anyone. As they have repeatedly indicated some high priests of our Eparchy, our diversity should be preserved and fostered respect for our history and hope to play an important role in ecumenical dialogue with our Orthodox brothers. Today, unfortunately, signs of internal division and weakness, add shadows worrying that I hope will soon fade.

There could well be sensible reasons for this development, including a possible restructuring of the Italo-Greek Church and a more firm structure for the recently-developed Ukrainian Greek-Catholic presence in Italy, which should have some formal relationship with the Italo-Greeks.

However, I am only too well aware that for several centuries the Italo-Greeks were denied their own episcopal jurisdiction and subjected to the Latin jurisdiction; it was only in the twentieth century that this situation was remedied. So the possibility of having the two Eparches both under Latin jurisdiction now rather makes me nervous.

Fr. Serge

Father Nicola Cuccia, which has been the pastor of the Greek parish of Contessa E. for more than 17 years

Sadly it sounds like the Latin canon law giving a priest only two six year terms in a parish.

Can. 522 [vatican.va] A pastor must possess stability and therefore is to be appointed for an indefinite period of time. The diocesan bishop can appoint him only for a specific period if the conference of bishops has permitted this by a decree.