Bertolone was born in San Biagio Plataniprovince as well as the archdiocese of Agrigento. He obtained his master's degree in 1972 and received his bachelor's degree in Theology from the "San Giovanni Evangelista" Theological Institute in Palermo in 1974.
Priestly ministry
He was ordained a priest in Palermo on 17 May 1975 as a member of the order of the Missionary Servants of the Poor. He graduated in Pedagogy from the University of Palermo in 1981, and obtained his license in Canon Law at the "Angelicum" in Rome in 1985. In the same year he received the Postulator certificate from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and, in 1987, he obtained his doctorate in Canon Law. Bertolone was a teacher of the subject of religion in the state secondary schools of Palermo from 1972 to 1984 and was a chaplain at the "Malaspina" Re-education Institute for troubled minors in Palermo from 1975 to 1980. From 1975 to 1983 he the treasurer of the Palermo Educational Institute, and would serve as general treasurer from 1976 to 1989 and general councilor from 1976 2006. He was a parish collaborator of "S. Maria della Perseveranza" in Rome from 1983 to 1987, and also in Rome worked at a teacher in a school run by the Ursuline Sisters in 1985 to 1986. In 1988 he became an official of the Congregation for institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life, of which he was appointed undersecretary by Pope John Paul II on 12 June 2004.
On 25 March 2011, it was announced that Bertolone had been appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as the new archbishop of Catanzaro-Squillace, replacing the retiring Antonio Ciliberti. He was formally installed as archbishop on 29 May 2011. On 3 September 2015 he was elected president of the Calabrian Episcopal Conference.
Publications
La Salus animarum nell’ordinamento giuridico della Chiesa, 1987
Volto Redentore, Le sette lampade, 1997
E il mandorlo fiorì, 1999
I sette doni della grazia, 2000
I tre compagni di viaggio, 2001
Francesco Spoto. Il martire del sorriso, Elledici, 2007.
Sulle orme del divino viandante. Riflessioni sulla vita consacrata, Elledici, 2007.
Perché, perché Signore? Non sei colpa tu, o Signore..., Edizioni San Paolo, 2010.
La sapienza del sorriso. Il martirio di don Giuseppe Puglisi, Paoline, 2012.
Padre Pino Puglisi beato. Profeta e martire, Edizioni San Paolo, 2013.
I care humanum - Passare la fiaccola della nuova umanità, Paoline, 2014.
Perfectae caritatis, cinquan'anni dopo. Né estranei agli uomini, né inutili nella città, Edizioni San Paolo, 2015.
Il grano e la zizzania, Rubbettino, 2017.
Gesù: eterno giovane tra i giovani, Rubbettino, 2018.
Scomunica ai mafiosi? Contributi per un dibattito, Rubbettino, 2018.
Political views
Bertolone has historically been a strong critic of Sicilian Mafia and 'Ndrangheta, calling them anti-Christian and anti-Gospel, and was one of the stronger advocates for the beatification of Pino Puglisi.
