Angelo Acerbi (born 23 September 1925) is an Italian prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, who has been an archbishop since 1974 and a cardinal since 2024. He served in the diplomatic service of the Holy See as the

Apostolic Nuncio An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is ...

to New Zealand,

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, Hungary, and Moldova, and as prelate of the Sovereign Order of Malta. He is currently the oldest archbishop and cardinal.

Biography

Early years

Angelo Acerbi was born in Sesta Godano on 23 September 1925. On 27 March 1948, he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

a priest for the

Diocese of La Spezia The Diocese of La Spezia-Sarzana-Brugnato () is a Latin Church, Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Liguria, northern Italy, created in 1929. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Genoa. The historic diocese of Luni (earlier Luna) was unit ...

. After earning a degree in

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

, he obtained his licence in theology. Having completed the course of study at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in 1954, he entered the diplomatic service of the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

Diplomatic career

He worked in the nunciatures in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, as well as in the International Relations Department of the Holy See's Secretariat of State. In March 1974, he was sent on a mission to Spain to ease church–state tensions over a sermon circulated by Bishop Antonio Añoveros Ataún of Bilbao advocating greater freedom for Spain's Basques. On 22 June 1974,

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul 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 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

appointed him Archbishop of Zella in

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

, and apostolic pronuncio to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and apostolic delegate to the Pacific Ocean. He received episcopal consecration on 30 June from Pope Paul; the co-consecrators were archbishops Giovanni Benelli, deputy for the General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, and Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy, secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. On 6 February 1979, he was named Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

as well. On 14 August 1979

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

appointed him apostolic nuncio to Colombia. On 27 February 1980, Acerbi was taken hostage along with more than a dozen other diplomats and more than forty others, when communist guerillas belonging to the

19th of April Movement The 19th of April Movement (), or M-19, was a Colombian urban guerrilla movement active in the late 1970s and 1980s. After its demobilization in 1990 it became a political party, the M-19 Democratic Alliance (), or AD/M-19. The M-19 tra ...

assaulted the embassy of the Dominican Republic in Bogota. He was one of the last released in Havana on 28 April. Acerbi was allowed to celebrate Mass daily in captivity. On 28 March 1990, he was transferred to

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, the first apostolic nuncio to be named after the establishment of Communism in that country. During Acerbi's diplomatic assignment in Hungary, the Holy See concluded an agreement with the Republic of Hungary on religious assistance to the Armed Forces and the Border Police and prepared another relating to the financing of public and other purely religious activities carried out by the Catholic Church in Hungary, in particular the financing of educational activities, which was signed shortly after the end of Acerbi's tenure in Hungary. On 13 January 1994 he was also appointed Apostolic Nuncio in

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

. On 8 February 1997 he was transferred to the nunciature in the Netherlands. On 27 February 2001,

named François Bacqué to succeed him in that position, ending his career as an active nuncio.

Later years

On 2 June 2001, Pope John Paul named Acerbi to two curial positions, member of the

Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (CEP; ) was a congregation (Roman Curia), congregation of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church in Rome, responsible for Catholic missions, missionary work and related activities. It is also kn ...

and member of the council of cardinals and bishops for the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State. On 4 April 2002, the pope added membership in the

Congregation for Bishops The Dicastery for Bishops, formerly named Congregation for Bishops (), is the department of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church that oversees the selection of most new bishops. Its proposals require papal approval to take effect, but are usu ...

. On 21 June 2001, he was appointed prelate of the

Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious ...

, tasked with overseeing the priestly life of its chaplains and assisting the Order's leaders in promoting the religious observance of its members. On 21 January 2006, Acerbi denounced comments published in the Italian weekly ''Panorama'' a month earlier, that said that Acerbi was leading a faction of young adherents of the Order dissatisfied with its failure to emphasize its Christian identity. On 4 July 2015,

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

appointed a new prelate, Monsignor Jean Laffitte. Acerbi was scheduled to lead a spiritual meditation during the triennial gathering of the Holy See's diplomats in September 2022. On 7 December 2024, as announced in October, Pope Francis made Acerbi a cardinal, creating him Cardinal-Deacon of Santi Angeli Custodi a Città Giardino. He was 99 years old and became the oldest living cardinal, surpassing

Estanislao Esteban Karlic Estanislao Esteban Karlic (born 7 February 1926) is an Argentine cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Paraná from 1986 to 2003, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 2007. Biography Estanislao Karlic was born in Oliva ...

. He was estimated to be "likely the oldest man ever to be named a cardinal".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acerbi, Angelo 1925 births Living people 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic titular archbishops Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy alumni Apostolic nuncios to Colombia Apostolic nuncios to Hungary Apostolic nuncios to Moldova Apostolic nuncios to the Netherlands Apostolic nuncios to New Zealand Apostolic nuncios to Fiji Apostolic nuncios to the Pacific Ocean People from the Province of La Spezia 21st-century Italian Roman Catholic titular archbishops Cardinals created by Pope Francis 21st-century Italian cardinals

Biography

Early years

Diplomatic career

Later years

See also

References