Giovanni Bernardo Gremoli

Giovanni Bernardo Gremoli (30 June 1926 – 6 July 2017) was a Roman Catholic bishop. Born in Italy, Gremoli was ordained to the priesthood in 1951. Gremoli served as titular bishop of Masuccaba and was Vicar Apostolic of Arabia from 1976 to 2005. During this time, he spent a lot of time in St. Joseph's Cathedral, Abu Dhabi and^[1] he is one of the people credited with establishing the presence of the Catholic church in the Arabian Peninsula.^[2] He was succeeded by Paul Hinder.

His Excellency, The Most Reverend Giovanni Bernardo Gremoli O.F.M. Cap.
Emeritus Vicar Apostolic of Arabia
Church	Catholic Church
Diocese	Masuccaba
See	Apostolic Vicariate of Arabia
Installed	2 October 1975
Term ended	21 March 2005
Predecessor	Irzio Luigi Magliacani, OFM Cap.
Successor	Paul Hinder, OFM Cap.
Orders
Ordination	4 July 1967
Consecration	22 February 1976 by Agnelo Cardinal Rossi
Personal details
Born	Giovanni Bernardo Gremoli (1926-06-30)June 30, 1926 Poppi, Italy
Died	July 6, 2017(2017-07-06) (aged 91) Florence, Italy
Buried	Poppi, Toscana, Italy
Alma mater	Pontifical Urbanian University, Rome.

Ordination history of Giovanni Bernardo Gremoli
History Priestly ordination Date 17 February 1951 Episcopal consecration Principal consecrator Cardinal Agnelo Rossi Co-consecrators Bishop Giovanni Bianchi [it] Bishop Telesforo Giovanni Cioli, O. Carm. Date 22 February 1976

Styles of Giovanni Bernardo Gremoli
Reference style	His Excellency The Most Reverend Monsignor
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Bishop

Life

Giovanni Gremoli was born on 30 June 1926 in Poppi (Arezzo) in Italy, the second of six children, and grew up on his family's large farm. In 1942 he entered the Capuchins of the Tuscan Province and made his first religious profession on 15 August 1943. On 17 February 1951, he was ordained a priest in Florence. He then specialized in missiology and obtained a degree in canon law at the Pontifical Urbanian University in Rome.^[3]

In 1954 he was appointed mission secretary of the Capuchins in Florence to look after the interests of their missions in India, the Gulf, and Africa, a post he held until he was appointed Apostolic Vicar of Arabia on 2 October 1975. To improve his English which was essential for his task, he spent some weeks in Ireland before his episcopal ordination in Florence on 22 February 1976.

Time in Arabia

On 21 March 1976, Gremoli arrived in Abu Dhabi, which after the expulsion of the mission personnel from Aden, had become the official residence of the Apostolic Vicar of Arabia. He was the first Bishop who resided in the Gulf, while the seven previous apostolic vicars all had their headquarters in Aden.^[4]

He remained for 29 years as Bishop of the world's largest jurisdiction until he returned to Italy for his retirement on 22 May 2005.^[5] Since then, he lived in the Capuchin friary of Montughi in Florence until his death.^[6]

Death

Gremoli died on 6 July 2017 in Florence at the age of 91. His funeral was held on 8 July 2017 at the Capuchin Friary at Montughi, Florence.^[6]