Pennisi was born in the town of Licodia Eubea, Sicily, on 23 November 1946. From an early age he actively participated in the Communion and Liberation movement. He was ordained as a priest on 9 September 1972 by Bishop Carmelo Canzonieri, after studying at the prestigious Almo Collegio Capranica in Rome.
Church career
After parish work, Pennisi became involved in theological education. From 1985 to 1992 he was rector of the episcopal seminary of Caltagirone in Sicily, and from 1997 to 2002 he was rector of the Almo Collegio Capranica in Rome, where he had himself been a student previously. Pope John Paul II appointed him Bishop of Piazza Armerina on 12 April 2002, and he was consecrated as bishop in Piazza Armerina Cathedral on 3 July 2002. On 8 February 2013 Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Archbishop of Monreale, and he was enthroned on 26 April 2013. On 21 September 2017 he was elected vice-president of the Sicilian Episcopal Conference.
Opposition to the Sicilian Mafia
Pennisi has lived throughout his life on the island of Sicily, and in his working life has become an outspoken critic and opponent of the Sicilian Mafia. In the early part of 2008 he received a permanent police escort following death threats received from the mafia. He has worked for legal reforms allowing courts to strip convicted mafiosi of their property, and has banned churches from allowing religious rites for confraternities whose membership includes mafiosi. In 2007 he refused to allow a cathedral funeral service for convicted mafia chief Daniele Emmanuello, who had been killed during a shoot out with police. Ten years later in 2017, despite death threats over the Emmanuello refusal, he again refused to permit any type of public church funeral service for convicted Mafia chief Salvatore Riina who had died in prison, stating "Toto Riina is to be considered a manifest sinner who didn't show the necessary public and true repentance for his crimes." On 17 March 2017 Pennisi again made news headlines for opposing the Sicilian Mafia, when he issued a blanket ban on known mafiosi becoming Godfathers to children within his diocese, stating that the application of the title to organised criminals could be an attempt to legitimise their crime through association with religion.
