Giovanni Mariani was born on 17 June 1919 in
Santo Stefano d'Aveto,
Province of Genoa, Italy. On 21 March 1942, he was ordained a priest for the
Diocese of Bobbio. On 16 October 1967,
Pope Paul VI gave him the general responsibilities of Apostolic Delegate to Western Africa, and then added a series of more specific assignments, beginning by naming him
titular archbishop of Missua and
Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to
Senegal on 19 October.
Cardinal Secretary of State Amleto Giovanni Cicognani consecrated him a bishop on 3 December. He was given additional responsibilities as Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to
Niger on 28 August 1971, to
Dahomey (Benin) on 29 March 1972, and to Ivory Coast on 19 June 1972; and as
Apostolic Delegate to
Mali and
Mauritania on 17 October 1973. On 11 January 1975, Pope Paul appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to
Venezuela. In January 1978, he became an official in the
Secretariat of State. On 25 April 1980,
Pope John Paul II appointed him
Apostolic Nuncio to Greece. Mariani resigned on 5 May 1990 from that office. He died on 3 January 1991. ==References==