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Angelo Cardinal Sodano (born 23 November 1927) is the Dean of the College of Cardinals and Cardinal Secretary of State in the Roman Catholic Church. Sodano was first appointed Secretary of State by Pope John Paul II and then reappointed by Pope Benedict XVI. He became Pro-Secretary 1 December 1990, and full Secretary of State once he had been named a cardinal in the consistory of June 28, 1991. In April 2005 he succeeded Benedict as Dean of the College of Cardinals. He is the first person to serve simultaneously as Dean and Secretary of State since 1828.
On 22 June 2006 it was announced that The Holy Father, in accordance with Canon 354 of the Code of Canon Law, has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Angelo Sodano, secretary of State, requesting him, nonetheless, to remain in office until September 15, 2006, with all the faculties inherent to that role. On the same date - September 15 - the Holy Father will appoint Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B., archbishop of Genova, Italy, as the new secretary of State. On that occasion, His Holiness will receive in audience the superiors and officials of the Secretariat of State in order to render public thanks to Cardinal Angelo Sodano for his long and generous service to the Holy See.
Biography
A native of the Isola d'Asti (province of Asti, Italy), he was ordained a priest there in 1950. In 1959 he moved to Rome and entered the direct service of the Holy See, serving as a secretary of nunciatures in Latin America and achieving the title of monsignor (he was named a Chaplain of His Holiness the day Pope Paul VI was elected) before becoming an official of the Roman Curia's Council for Public Affairs of the Church in 1968.
On November 30, 1977 he was appointed a titular archbishop and the nuncio to Chile, one of the countries where he had served as nunciature secretary. Whilst serving as nuncio, he began a lasting friendship with the then President of Chile Augusto Pinochet, and was criticized by progressives in subsequent years for not speaking out about the disappearances in Chile. He returned to Asti to be consecrated a bishop before taking up his post. He returned to Rome in 1988 as Secretary of the Council For Public Affairs of the Church, which in 1989 became the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State. (The occupant of this post is sometimes informally called the "Vatican foreign minister").
In 1994, John Paul II named him Cardinal Bishop of the suburbicarian see of Albano, and on November 30, 2002, exactly twenty-five years after he was first appointed a bishop, he was elected vice-dean of the College of Cardinals in succession to Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, who became Dean. With Ratzinger's election as Pope Benedict XVI Sodano performed the functions of the Dean at Benedict's Papal Inauguration and on April 30 Benedict formally ratified Sodano's election to the position by the six suburbicarian Cardinal Bishops.
As Secretary of State, and due to the health of Pope John Paul II, it was Cardinal Sodano who was the principal celebrant at the funeral masses for John Cardinal O'Connor and Mother Teresa. When he turned 75 in 2002 Pope John Paul specifically invited him to stay on as Secretary of State, though this is the customary retirement age for heads of major Vatican departments (there is no retirement age for the Deanship or Vice-Deanship). He was close to John Paul II, though some have called him a less distinguished Secretary of State than his predecessors.
After the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005 Sodano was seldom seen as one of the papabili, or the cardinals likely to become the next Pope, due to his advanced age (although he is seven months younger than John Paul's successor, Benedict XVI) and his lack of experience outside the Roman Curia. Sodano was, however, one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI. Sodano will be eligible to participate in any future papal conclaves that begin before his 80th birthday in November of 2007.
Upon the death of John Paul, Sodano's position as Cardinal Secretary of State expired. Although Cardinal Sodano is past the customary retirement age he was reappointed to the position by Benedict XVI on April 21, 2005.
He caused controversy near the end of John Paul II's papacy by suggesting the pontiff could consider retiring.
See also
External Links
1927 births | Living people | Diplomats of the Holy See | Italian cardinals | Natives of Piedmont
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"Angelo Cardinal Sodano"