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 he is one of the people credited with establishing the presence of the Catholic church in the Arabian Peninsula. He was succeeded by Paul Hinder.
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.
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.
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. Since then, he lived in the Capuchin friary of Montughi in Florence until his death.
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.