Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli

Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli OFM (5 February 1942 in El Khadra, Libya – 30 December 2019 in Saccolongo, Italy) was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate. He was also a Vicar Apostolic of Tripoli and the Titular Bishop of Tabuda.

Life

Martinelli was born in Italian Libya, but moved to Italy with his family when he was a child. He was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in 1967 and returned to Libya in 1971.

He had severe health problems and had to retire to Italy; he left Libya on 22 October 2015. He then presented his resignation to Pope Francis on 5 February 2017, his 75th birthday. Pope Francis accepted his renunciation and coadiutor Bishop George Bugeja, who was already in Tripoli before Martinelli's departure in 2015, took over. His health slowly continued to deteriorate and he was taken care of in the elderly care center of the Friars Minor of Saccolongo, where he died on 30 December 2019.