Paolo Dezza
Paolo Cardinal Dezza SJ (born December 13, 1901 in Parma , Italy , † December 17, 1999 in Rome ) was an Italian cardinal and was appointed by Pope John Paul II as a delegate of the Societas Jesu .
Life
At the age of 17, Dezza entered the Jesuit order on December 2, 1918. He completed his studies in Madrid ( philosophy ) and in Innsbruck ( Catholic theology ). For a short time, Dezza also went to the University of Naples .
On March 25, 1928, Dezza received the sacrament of ordination . In the same year he was appointed professor of philosophy at the Pontifical Gregorian University for four years . Due to illness, he had to spend the next three years in Switzerland .
From December 26, 1935, Dezza also took over the office of Provincial for the Province of Veneto-Milan. On August 5, 1941, he was appointed rector of the Gregorian and held this office for about 10 years. Dezza caused a stir shortly after the end of the war when he personally introduced the Roman chief rabbi Israel Zolli to the Catholic Church; He was then baptized by the later Cardinal Luigi Traglia .
From 1951 to 1965 he was rector of the Collegium Bellarminum (Collegio San Roberto Bellarmino) in Rome. From 1952 to 1963, Dezza was also General Secretary of the International Federation of Catholic Universities ( Fédération Internationale des Universités Catholiques - FIUC).
When in 1981 the 28th General Minister of the Order (colloquially known as "General"), Pedro Arrupe , suffered a severe stroke , Pope John Paul II appointed him as a delegate of the order (together with Giuseppe Pittau as coadjutor ). The Pope himself (represented by his delegate) took over the management of the order and gave Dezza (and Pittau) extensive powers. This approach was assessed ambivalently in the order and the church because it deviated from the normal approach of promptly electing a successor to a general who was then elected for life. The impression of a possibly necessary emergency measure was given and interpreted by some as a distrust of the Order and Arrupe.
With the election of Peter Hans Kolvenbach as the successor to Arrupe and 29th General of the Order in September 1983, this task of Dezzas as a delegate was ended. The election took place in the 33rd General Congregation on September 13, 1983.
On June 28, 1991, Dezza, who was meanwhile seriously ill and slowly went blind, was appointed cardinal deacon with the title deaconry Sant'Ignazio di Loyola in Campo Marzio at the age of 89 . Paolo Dezza died on December 17, 1999 at the age of 98. His tomb is in the church of San Ignazio di Loyola, near that of Roberto Bellarmino .
Works
- Adnotationes in tractatum de ontologia . Rome, 1930
- La filosophia del christianesimo . Milan, 1949
- Metaphysica generalis . Rome, 1964
Web links
- Dezza, Paolo. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website), accessed January 16, 2015.
- Entry on Paolo Dezza on catholic-hierarchy.org
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Dezza, Paolo |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Dezza, Cardinal Paolo |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian Jesuit and cardinal |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 13, 1901 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Parma |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 17, 1999 |
| Place of death | Rome |