Delio Lucarelli (24 November 1939 – 29 January 2024) was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate. He served as bishop of Rieti from 1997 to 2015.
Early life and ordination
Lucarelli was born in Fano, an episcopal seat in the province of Pesaro and Urbino, on 24 November 1939. He studied at the Pontifical Marche Regional Seminary "Pio XI" in Fano.[1] On 29 June 1965, Lucarelli was ordained a priest by Bishop Vincenzo Del Signore.[1] After ordination he carried out his pastoral work as parochial vicar in Lucrezia, where he remained from 1965 to 1967, and San Michele al Fiume, a hamlet of Mondavio, from 1967 to 1970. In that year he was appointed educator and animator at the regional seminary of Fano, where he then held the position of pro-rector and subsequently rector, from 1972 to 1988.[2] On 13 June 1978, he received the honorary title of Chaplain of His Holiness from Pope Paul VI.[3] In 1988, he was appointed general secretary for Italy of the Pontifical Society of Saint Peter the Apostle.[2]
Bishop
On 30 November 1996, Lucarelli was appointed by Pope John Paul II as bishop of Rieti; he succeeded Giuseppe Molinari, previously appointed coadjutor archbishop of L'Aquila. On 6 January 1997, he received episcopal consecration, in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, through the imposition of the hands of the pontiff himself, co-consecrating archbishops Giovanni Battista Re and Myroslav Marusyn. On the 2 February, he took possession of the diocese.[2] On 4 December 2002, Lucarelli called the diocesan synod; having concluded the work, and on 2 February 2006 he promulgated the synod book. Lucarelli resigned from his position due to the fact that he had reached the age limit, from the pastoral governance of the diocese of Rieti, which was accepted by Pope Francis on 15 May 2015.[4] He was succeeded by Domenico Pompili, of the clergy of Anagni-Alatri, until then undersecretary of the Italian Episcopal Conference. He remained apostolic administrator of the diocese until the entry of his successor on 5 September.[2]
Death
Lucarelli died on 29 January 2024, at the age of 84.[5][6]
