On Tuesday 23 April 2024 at 6.30 pm, the Terra d’Otranto Representation of the Delegation of Puglia and Basilicata of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, on the anniversary of the Solemnity of Saint George the Martyr, Patron of the Constantinian Order, will gather at the church of San Pasquale Baylón in Taranto. The church, located in the Umbertine village of Taranto, is administered by the Franciscan Friars Minor and is the main sanctuary for the cult of Sant’Egidio from Taranto.
The convent of San Pasquale, in addition to being the place in the heart of Taranto that formed Aldo Moro spiritually, houses the relics of Sant’Egidio, co-patron saint of Taranto and protector of children, young people looking for work and families experiencing suffering and illness. For a few years it has been entrusted into the hands of young friars with the right charisma and generative energy to be able to bring light back to the city through the numerous initiatives and connective activities carried out by them in the region.
The celebration of Holy Mass will be presided over by the Apostolic Nuncio the Most Reverend Luigi Pezzuto, titular Archbishop of Torre di Proconsolare, Constantinian Chaplain Grand Cross of Merit.
Archbishop Pezzuto (pictured above), born in Squinzano on 30 April 1946, was ordained a priest on 25 September 1971. After obtaining a decree in theology, he entered the Diplomatic Service of the Holy See in 1978, serving at the Apostolic Nunciatures in Ghana, Paraguay, Papua New Guinea, Brazil, Senegal, Rwanda and Portugal. On 18 October 1995 he was appointed chargé d’affaires at the diplomatic mission in the Republic of Congo and Gabon. On 7 December 1996 he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio of these countries and named titular Archbishop of Torre di Proconsolare by Pope John Paul II, who consecrated him on 6 January 1997, co-consecrating at the same time Archbishop Giovanni Battista Re, Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, and Archbishop Myroslav Marusyn, Secretary of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches. On 22 May 1999 he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Tanzania and on 2 April 2005 to El Salvador and from 7 May 2005 also to Belize. On 17 November 2012 he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro and on 16 January 2016 to the Principality of Monaco. On 31 August 2021 Pope Francis accepted his resignation from the office of Apostolic Nuncio, due to having reached the mandatory retirement age of 75.
