Carlo Caffarra (1 June 1938 – 6 September 2017) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church. He was Archbishop of

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

from 2003 until 2015, when he retired. His previous positions included President of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family from 1981 to 1995 and Archbishop of Ferrara-Comacchio from 1995 to 2003. He was created a Cardinal in the

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church * Consistor ...

of 24 March 2006 by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...

Early life

Caffarra was born on 1 June 1938 in Samboseto di Busseto ( province of Parma),

Emilia Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both also ; ; egl, Emégglia-Rumâgna or ''Emîlia-Rumâgna''; rgn, Emélia-Rumâgna) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy, situated in the north of the country, comprising the historical regions ...

. He was educated at the Episcopal Seminary of Fidenza and the

Pontifical Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

in Rome, where he completed a doctorate in

Canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

. He was ordained a priest on 2 July 1961 in Rome. Beginning in 1965, he taught moral theology in the seminaries of Fidenza and Parma and later at the ''Studio Teologico Accademico Bolognese'', the Università Cattolica in Milan, and at the Theological Faculty of Northern Italy. His academic specialty was the moral doctrine of marriage and the bioethics of human procreation. He also taught medical ethics in the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery at the Università Cattolica's campus in Rome.

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

named him a member of the

International Theological Commission The International Theological Commission (ITC) is a body of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church; it advises the magisterium of the church, particularly the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), a dicastery of the Roman Curia. Its mem ...

where he served from 1974 to 1984. In 1980,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

named him an expert advisor to the Synod of Bishops on Marriage and the Family. He was the first President of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family from its establishment in 1980 until 1995 and founded sections of the same institute in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, Spain and Mexico. John Paul II appointed him a consultor to the

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from heresy and is the body responsible ...

in 1983. He was an advisor to John Paul II on sexual issues.

Bishop

Caffarra was named Archbishop of Ferrara-Comacchio on 8 September 1995, and consecrated on 21 October 1995 in the Cathedral of Fidenza by

Giacomo Biffi Giacomo Biffi (13 June 1928 – 11 July 2015) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was Archbishop Emeritus of Bologna, having served as archbishop there from 1984 to 2003. he was elevated to the cardinalate in 1985. Biograp ...

, Archbishop of Bologna. He was installed on 4 November. Caffarra was appointed Archbishop of the

on 16 December 2003 and installed there on 15 February 2004. Caffarra was a noted opponent of

contraception Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

. In 1988, Caffarra weighed the sin of condom use against acquiring the AIDS virus: "Even the smallest moral wrong is so much greater than any physical wrong. I know this is hard for some to accept when the dangers are great, but the Church is here to combat moral wrongs." The next year, Caffarra argued condom campaigns further exposed society to AIDS because "the means of protection are far from reliable". On 24 August 2005 Caffarra held the central intervention "Freedom as liberation" at the annual Rimini Meeting of

Communion and Liberation Communion and Liberation (Italian: Comunione e Liberazione, often shortened to CL) is an International Catholic movement founded in 1954 by Fr. Luigi Giussani. The official name is the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation. Its aim is to prese ...

. Subsequently, he and

Marcello Pera Marcello Pera (; born 28 January 1943
.) is an Italian

presented the Ratzinger's book ''L'Europa di Benedetto nella crisi delle culture''.

Cardinal

In the

of 24 March 2006,

named Caffarra

Cardinal-Priest A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

of S. Ioannis Baptistae Florentinorum. On 7 May 2006 he was made a member of the

Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: * Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administr ...

and the Executive Committee of the

Pontifical Council for the Family The Pontifical Council for the Family was a pontifical council of the Curia of the Roman Catholic Church from 1981 to 2016. It was established by Pope John Paul II on 9 May 1981 with his motu proprio ''Familia a Deo Instituta'', replacing the Com ...

. He was identified at the time as "a strong conservative" voice for the opposition of the Catholic Church to the modern world and one of Benedict XVI's less centrist appointments to the

College of Cardinals The College of Cardinals, or more formally the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. its current membership is , of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Cardinals are app ...

. In a note Caffarra published on 14 February 2010, he wrote "public officials who openly support same-sex marriage cannot consider themselves to be Catholic". He said: "It is impossible for the Catholic faith and support for putting homosexual unions on equal footing with marriage to coexist in one's conscience – the two contradict each other." He participated as a cardinal elector in the

2013 papal conclave The 2013 papal conclave was convened to elect a pope to succeed Pope Benedict XVI following his resignation on 28 February 2013. After the 115 participating cardinal-electors gathered, they set 12 March 2013 as the beginning of the conclave. ...

that elected

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

. Pope Francis named him to participate in the Synod on the Family in October 2014, in advance of which Caffarra authored an essay that argued that Catholics who divorce and remarry must be denied access to the Eucharist because their situation "is in objective contradiction with that bond of love that unites Christ and the Church, which is signified and actualized by the Eucharist". Allowing them access would mean the Church recognize their extramarital sexual relations as legitimate and contradict Church doctrine on the indissolubility of marriage. When accused of opposing Pope Francis with that essay, he called the statement a "slander" and said he would rather be charged with taking a lover than harboring views not shared by the pope. On 26 September 2015, Pope Francis appointed Caffarra to a five-year term as a member of the

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, pass ...

. His resignation as archbishop was accepted on 27 October 2015. In September 2016, Caffarra and three other cardinals publicly asked Pope Francis to clarify five points of doctrine in the Pope's apostolic exhortation, ''

Amoris laetitia ''Amoris laetitia'' (''The Joy of Love'') is a post-synodal apostolic exhortation by Pope Francis addressing the pastoral care of families. Dated 19 March 2016, it was released on 8 April 2016. It follows the Synods on the Family held in 2014 ...

''. They issued this public letter after the Pope did not reply to the same query made privately. In June 2017, Caffarra wrote on behalf of the four asking Francis for an audience to discuss their questions. He said that varying interpretations were producing inconsistency: "What is sin in Poland is good in Germany, that what is prohibited in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is permitted in Malta." Caffarra died on 6 September 2017 after a long illness.

References

External links

unofficial collection of Cardinal Caffarra's speeches
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caffarra, Carlo 1938 births 2017 deaths People from Busseto Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore alumni Roman Catholic archbishops of Bologna 21st-century Italian cardinals 21st-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops Pontifical Council for the Family International Theological Commission Cardinals created by Pope Benedict XVI Pontifical Gregorian University alumni 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops