Edmund Casimir Szoka

Cardinal coat of arms of Edmund Casimir Szoka as a curia cardinal

Edmund Casimir Cardinal Szoka (born September 14, 1927 in Grand Rapids , Michigan ; † August 20, 2014 in Novi , Michigan) was Archbishop of Detroit and Cardinal Curia of the Roman Catholic Church . As President of the Governorate of the Vatican City he was Prime Minister of the Vatican City until 2006 .

Life

Edmund Casimir Szoka was the son of Kazimierz and Maria geb. Volgat who immigrated to the USA from Poland . He studied at the St. Joseph Seminary in Grand Rapids, the Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit, and the St. John Diocesan Seminary in Plymouth. He was ordained a priest on June 5, 1954 by the Bishop of Marquette , Thomas Noa . In 1955, Bishop Noa appointed him his personal secretary. He was chaplain and secretary to the Bishop of Saginaw and chaplain of the local air force base. From 1957 to 1959 Szoka studied canon law at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome . He was Vicar General and Chancellor of the Diocese of Marquette . Pope Paul VI awarded him the honorary title of House Prelate of His Holiness on November 14, 1963 .

On June 11, 1971, Pope Paul VI appointed him. to the Bishop of Gaylord . He was ordained bishop by the Archbishop of Detroit , Cardinal John Francis Dearden , on July 20, 1971. On March 11, 1981, Szoka was appointed Archbishop of Detroit by Pope John Paul II . He took part in many sessions of the Synod of World Bishops. On June 28, 1988, John Paul II accepted him as a cardinal priest with the titular church Santi Andrea e Gregorio al Monte Celio in the college of cardinals .

He resigned the leadership of the Archdiocese of Detroit in 1990 after John Paul II appointed him to the Curia in Rome on April 28, 1990, as President of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See . On October 14, 1997, he was appointed President of the Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State and on February 22, 2001, in addition, President of the Vatican City Governorate , the executive body of the Vatican State's political system.

He participated in the conclave for the election of Benedict XVI. part. This first confirmed him in office and on June 22, 2006 accepted his age-related resignation with effect from September 15, 2006.

Memberships in the Roman Curia

Edmund Casimir Cardinal Szoka was a member of the following congregations of the Roman Curia :

• State Secretariat (second section) (until 2007)
• Congregation for the Causes of Saints (until 2007)
• Congregation for Bishops (until 2007)
• Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (until 2007)
• Congregation for the Clergy (until 2007)
• Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (until 2007)

Honors

• 2005: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic

Web links

• Entry on Edmund Casimir Szoka on catholic-hierarchy.org ; accessed on August 21, 2014.
• AP : Edmund Szoka, Ex-Governor of Vatican City, Dies at 86th obituary in The New York Times, August 21, 2014

Individual evidence

1. ^ Former Vatican City Governor Dies At Age 86
2. ↑ Annuario Pontificio per l'anno 1968 , Città del Vaticano 1968, p. 1764.

predecessor	Office	successor
Bishopric newly established	Bishop of Gaylord 1971–1981	Robert John Rose
John Francis Cardinal Dearden	Archbishop of Detroit 1981–1990	Adam Joseph Cardinal Maida
Giuseppe Cardinal Caprio	Prefect for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See 1990–1997	Sergio Cardinal Sebastiani
Rosalio José Cardinal Castillo Lara SDB	President of the Pontifical Commission for the State of the Vatican City 1997–2006	Giovanni Cardinal Lajolo
Gianni Danzi	President of the Vatican City Governorate 2001–2006	Giovanni Cardinal Lajolo