On May 24, 2007 Monsignor Crispino Valenziano, a priest of the Diocese of Cefalù in Sicily, was awarded the degree of Doctor of Sacred Liturgy Honoris Causa during a ceremony held in his honor at Sant’ Anselmo in Rome. A native of Cefalù, Msgr. Valenziano began his seminary studies there before being sent to Rome for further training. He completed his doctorate in Philosophy at the Pontifical Gregorian University and subsequently began a long and distinguished period of service to the Church as a teacher and scholar.
Beginning in 1965 Msgr. Valenziano taught theology first at Genova, and then Palermo, all the while serving as a visiting professor at several Roman academies, including Sant’ Anselmo. His association with Sant’ Anselmo began in 1969, and he has taught courses there and has supervised many doctoral dissertations in the field of sacred liturgy ever since.
Msgr. Valenziano has been a consultant to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, and to the Office of the Papal Master of Ceremonies. In 1965 Msgr. Valenziano was invited to join the ‘Consilium’ which helped to direct the reform of the Church’s liturgy following the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), and he made many contributions towards this effort over the years. The discourse given in his honor on May 24th was presented by an old friend of Msgr. Valenziano, Archbishop Piero Marini, who has long served as the Papal Master of Ceremonies, and is himself an alumnus of the Benedictine academy of Sant’ Anselmo.