Achille Silvestrini

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Achille Silvestrini, 2006
Cardinal coat of arms

Achille Cardinal Silvestrini (born October 25, 1923 in Brisighella , Province of Ravenna , Italy ; † August 29, 2019 in Vatican City ) was an Italian clergyman , diplomat and cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church . From 1971 to 1988 he was responsible for the diplomatic line of the Holy See .

Life

Achille Silvestrini first studied humanities at the University of Bologna and from 1948 at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, the subjects of Catholic theology , philosophy and ancient languages . On July 13, 1946, he received the sacrament of ordination and went on to study law . He received his doctorate in classical philology , canon law and civil law . After completing his diplomatic training at the Pontifical Diplomatic Academy , he was accepted into the diplomatic service of the Holy See in December 1953, where he worked in various departments with the communist states of Southeast Asia, and later with international organizations focusing on peace, disarmament and human rights.

From 1958 to 1969 Silvestrini was personal secretary in the Vatican State Secretariat under the Cardinal State Secretaries Domenico Tardini and Amleto Giovanni Cicognani . From 1969 he was a member of the Council for Public Affairs and was used in several foreign missions of the Holy See. As a diplomat he was involved, among other things, with a focus on the politics of the Eastern Bloc. Silvestrini represented the Holy See at the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, as well as Conferences on the Peaceful Use of Nuclear Power and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty .

In 1979 Pope John Paul II appointed him Head of Foreign Office in the State Secretariat and thus titular Archbishop of Novaliciana and donated him episcopal ordination on May 27, 1979 ; Co- consecrators were the secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples , Archbishop Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy , and the official in the State Secretariat, Archbishop Eduardo Martínez Somalo . In the same year Silvestrini became secretary of the Council for Public Affairs of the Catholic Church. From 1979 to 1984 he headed the delegation of the Holy See for the revision of the Vatican State Concordat with Italy ( Lateran Treaties ). He was involved in the diplomatic mediation around the Falklands War and during the Nicaraguan Revolution . Silvestrini was long considered a possible successor to Cardinal Secretary of State Agostino Casaroli and also as a papabile .

In the consistory of June 28, 1988, John Paul II accepted him as a cardinal deacon with the title diaconate San Benedetto fuori Porta San Paolo in the college of cardinals and on July 1 of the same year appointed him Prefect of the Apostolic Signature , the Supreme Court of the Roman Curia . On May 24, 1991 he took over the leadership of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches ("Eastern Church Congregation ") and often acted as papal legate and mediator in various crisis regions. In 1999 he was appointed cardinal priest pro hac vice while retaining his titular church .

After he had offered the Pope the resignation of all his offices in the Curia at the age of 75, as stipulated in canon law , this request was accepted by John Paul II on November 25, 2000. Cardinal Silvestrini did not take part in either the 2005 or 2013 conclave because the age limit of 80 years was exceeded .

Even before the death of John Paul II in 2005, he thought the resignation of a future Pope was conceivable.

In 1980, Achille Silvestrini was the founder and, until the end, chairman of the “Villa Nazareth” Foundation (Fondazione Sacra Famiglia di Nazareth) with its own college in Rome and its affiliated alumni association (Fondazione Comunità Domenico Tardini Onlus).

Honors

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Cardinal Silvestrini died at the age of 95. In: kathisch.de . August 29, 2019, accessed August 30, 2019 .
  2. ^ Giancarlo Zizola : The successor . Patmos, Düsseldorf 1997, ISBN 978-3-491-72369-6 , pp. 161-162 .
  3. ^ Rinuncia del Prefetto della Congregazione per le Chiese Orientali e Nomina del Successore. In: Daily Bulletin . November 25, 2000, accessed December 5, 2017 (Italian).
  4. ↑ In the future, the resignation of a Pope is conceivable. In: Cardinalrating.com. February 5, 2005, archived from the original on October 19, 2013 ; Retrieved October 17, 2013 .
  5. ^ Il Cardinale Achille Silvestrini è tornato alla Casa del Padre. Fondazione Comunità Domenico Tardini Onlus, August 29, 2019, accessed on August 30, 2019 (Italian).
predecessor Office successor
Agostino Casaroli Secretary of the Council for Public Affairs of the Catholic Church (Foreign Minister of the Vatican State)
1979–1988 		Angelo Sodano
Aurelio Cardinal Sabattani Prefect of the Apostolic Signature
1988–1991 		Gilberto Cardinal Agustoni
Duraisamy Simon Cardinal Lourdusamy Prefect of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches
1991–2000 		Ignatius Moussa I Cardinal Daoud
personal data
SURNAME Silvestrini, Achille
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Silvestrini, Achille Cardinal (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church
DATE OF BIRTH October 25, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Brisighella , Ravenna Province, Italy
DATE OF DEATH 29th August 2019
Place of death Vatican city