Mario Meini was born on 17 November 1946 in Legoli, a village in the Italian
comune of
Peccioli, which is located in
Tuscany. He received his secondary education at the Minor Seminary of Volterra and studied theology at the Pontifical Regional Seminary "Pius XII" of
Siena. He later received a doctorate in theology at the
Pontifical Gregorian University in
Rome. As such, on 27 June 1971, Meini was ordained a
Catholic priest in the
Diocese of Volterra. On 13 July 1996,
Pope John Paul II announced that he would appoint Meini to succeed
Giacomo Babini as
Bishop of Pitigliano-Sovana-Orbetello. On 7 September 1996, he was consecrated a bishop, the
principal consecrator being
Vasco Giuseppe Bertelli, Bishop of Volterra, and the co-consecrators being
Ovidio Lari and
Antonio Bagnoli, Bishops Emeriti of
Aosta and Fiesole, respectively. As bishop, Meini took the Latin motto "Pax et Lux," which in English means "Peace and Light." Following a pastoral visit on 25 May 2002, Meini announced that there would be a diocesan synod, and promulgated the synodal documents on 22 March 2005.
Pope Benedict XVI. appointed Meini to succeed
Luciano Giovannetti as
Bishop of Fiesole on 13 February 2010. He assumed his bishopric on 18 April 2010.
Guglielmo Borghetti, for whom Meini had been the principal consecrator on 15 September 2010, succeeded Meini as Bishop of Pitigliano-Sovana-Orbetello. On 11 November 2014, Meini was elected Vice President for Central Italy of the
Italian Episcopal Conference. On 21 April 2022, Pope Francis accepted Meini's resignation as Bishop of Fiesole and appointed Stefano Manetti as his successor. == References ==