Pope Leo XIV has appointed this Tuesday bishop of Terni-Narni-Amelia, in Italy, Monsignor Alfonso Raimo, until now auxiliary of Salerno-Campagna-Acerno. The prelate, 67 years old, has a long trajectory in missionary pastoral work and was founder and president of the School of Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue of Eboli, from which he defended dialogue between religions as the «only way» to build peace.
The appointment represents a rapid promotion for Raimo, whom Francis elevated to the episcopate just over two years ago, in April 2024. Since then he has continued to participate actively in interreligious initiatives, including a Jubilee of Interreligious Dialogue held together with Muslim, Baha’i, Protestant, Orthodox and Buddhist representatives.
Founder of a School of Interreligious Dialogue
Raimo’s dedication to interreligious dialogue predates his arrival at the episcopate.
As a priest and vicar general of Salerno-Campagna-Acerno, he founded and presided over the School of Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue of Eboli, an initiative aimed at promoting encounter between different religious confessions and cultures.
In an interview given in 2023, Raimo explained that the statutes of the School presented dialogue as the «only way to walk together» to build a society based on welcome and religious and cultural respect.
The then priest linked this approach to the interreligious meeting of Assisi convened by Saint John Paul II in 1986.
According to Raimo, that event opened «a breach in the impenetrable wall of distrust and fear» and made it possible to discover shared values among the different religions.
From that experience, he maintained, dialogue appeared «not only as a desirable possibility, but as a common obligation and the only possible way» to build a peace understood as «harmony of differences».
Raimo also argued that this dynamic should not be limited to extraordinary encounters between religious representatives, but should be transferred to everyday life. His goal, he explained, was to ensure that «dialogue becomes school».
With Muslims, Baha’is, Protestants, Orthodox and Buddhists
These ideas have subsequently found concrete expression in his pastoral activity.
Already as auxiliary bishop, Raimo participated in March 2025 in the so-called Jubilee of Interreligious Dialogue organized by the archdiocese of Salerno-Campagna-Acerno.
The meeting was presented by the organization as an invitation to «walk together», «build bridges of dialogue» and celebrate diversity as a source of spiritual and cultural enrichment.
The procession was led by Archbishop Andrea Bellandi and by Raimo, accompanied by representatives of the Islamic, Baha’i, Pentecostal Evangelical, Waldensian-Methodist, Orthodox and Soka Gakkai Buddhist communities.
The participants together made a journey between Battipaglia, Oliveto Citra and Campagna. One of the stages took place in a Pentecostal Evangelical community and the itinerary concluded at the Catholic co-cathedral of Campagna.
The archdiocese of Salerno itself included that meeting within its official calendar of the 2025 Jubilee.
Raimo has also participated in Judeo-Christian dialogue initiatives promoted by the diocese and his profile in this field was already publicly highlighted before Francis decided to appoint him auxiliary bishop.
A trajectory marked by mission
Alfonso Raimo was born on July 2, 1959 in Calabritto, province of Avellino. He completed his theological studies at the San Luigi section of the Pontifical Theological Faculty of Southern Italy and subsequently obtained a licentiate in Theology of Mission from the Pontifical Urbaniana University.
He was ordained a priest on March 18, 1990.
After eight years as parochial vicar of Santi Martino e Quirico, in Fisciano, he was pastor of that same community between 1998 and 2011.
During those years he also began his institutional work in the missionary field. Between 2001 and 2012 he was regional head of missionary pastoral care for the Episcopal Conference of Campania and, between 2012 and 2015, national secretary of the Pontifical Missionary Union and of the Pontifical Work of Saint Peter the Apostle.
Since 2007 he has also served as professor of Theology of Mission at the Theological Institute of Salerno and at the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences of Salerno.
Prison chaplain and defender of immigrant welcome
Raimo also has experience in prison pastoral care. Between 2011 and 2019 he was chaplain of the ICATT prison of Eboli, while continuing to develop his parochial ministry.
In 2020 he was appointed vicar general of Salerno-Campagna-Acerno and subsequently became part of the College of Consultors and the Diocesan Pastoral Council.
Immigration has also appeared in his public interventions. Last August, during a Marian celebration in Salerno, he warned against the «shipwreck of indifference» toward immigrants crossing the Mediterranean fleeing wars, persecutions and situations of poverty.
Raimo then called for a «welcoming and supportive» community and asked not to reduce the stories of those arriving in Europe to mere numbers or statistics.
Residential bishop two years after his consecration
Francis appointed Raimo titular bishop of Termini Imerese and auxiliary of Salerno-Campagna-Acerno on April 30, 2024. He received episcopal consecration the following June 1.
Within the Episcopal Conference of Campania he also serves as bishop delegate for the protection of minors.
Now, just over two years after entering the episcopate, Leo XIV entrusts him with the pastoral governance of Terni-Narni-Amelia.