Antonio Quarracino (8 August 1923 – 28 February 1998) was an Argentine

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

and

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

of the Catholic Church in Argentina and the archbishop of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

between 1990 and 1998.

Biography

Early life and priesthood

Quarracino was born in

Pollica Pollica (Neapolitan language, Campanian: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. Located 94 km from Salerno, the town rises to an elevation 370 meters from sea level. History The ...

Province of Salerno The province of Salerno () is a province in the Campania region of Italy. It has 1,054,766 inhabitants as of 2025. Geography The largest towns in the province are: Salerno, the capital, which has a population of 131,950; Cava de' Tirreni, Bat ...

, Italy. His family emigrated to Argentina when he was 4 years old, settling in the town of San Andrés de Giles in the

province of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...

. Quarracino was ordained priest on 22 December 1945, and became a professor at the diocesan seminary of Mercedes. He also taught

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

at the Universidad Católica Argentina.

Episcopate and cardinalate

Quarracino was appointed Bishop of Nueve de Julio, Buenos Aires, by

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

, on 3 February 1962, and received the episcopal see on 8 April of the same year. He participated in all sessions of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

(1962–1965). On 3 August 1968 Paul VI moved him to the diocese of

Avellaneda Avellaneda (, ) is a port city in the provinces of Argentina, province of Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the seat of the Avellaneda Partido, whose population was 342,677 as per the . Avellaneda is located within the Greater B ...

(whose new cathedral was built during his rule).

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 ...

promoted him to the Archdiocese of

La Plata La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires province, Argentina. According to the 2022 Argentina census, census, the La Plata Partido, Partido has a population of 772,618 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 938,287 inhabit ...

on 18 December 1985, and then on 10 July 1990 to the Archdiocese of

, a see to which is attached the title of

Primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

of Argentina. He was elected to preside over the

Argentine Episcopal Conference The Argentine Episcopal Conference () is an episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in Argentina that gathers the bishops of the country in order to discuss pastoral issues and in general all matters that have to do with the Church. The followi ...

in the following November, and then reelected until 1996. He was elevated to

Cardinal-Priest A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. ...

of ''S. Maria della Salute a Primavalle'' in

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 ...

on 28 June 1991. On 27 June 1992 he was the principal consecrator of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J., later

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 ...

, as bishop.

Death

Quarracino died in 1998 at the age of 74 at the Otamendi Hospital, due to a cardiac arrest. His doctors announced that his death came due to complications following intestinal surgery on 21 February 1998. He was succeeded automatically by his coadjutor bishop, the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

Jorge Mario Bergoglio.

Views

Inter-religious dialogue with Jews

Quarracino was a major figure of inter-religious discussion with Jews. During a visit to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

in 1992 he was decorated by Jewish institutions for this cause, and in 1997 he had a mural painting set up in the Cathedral of Buenos Aires commemorating the victims of the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

and the bombings of the Israeli Embassy and the AMIA.

Social communications

Quarracino was inclined to journalism and, while in La Plata, he renewed the informative magazine of the archdiocese, transforming it into a full-fledged cultural publication. As Bishop of Buenos Aires, he appeared on TV regularly; he was in charge of a segment in a religious program (''Claves para un mundo mejor'') in the state-owned channel ATC.

Dirty War

Quarracino was outspoken about controversial topics. One of his first notable public statements was his support, in 1982, of a project of law that would end all investigation of the crimes of the

Dirty War The Dirty War () is the name used by the military junta or National Reorganization Process, civic-military dictatorship of Argentina () for its period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983. During this campaign, military and secu ...

, in order to "contribute to national reconciliation". This can be seen as a precedent of the ''

Ley de Punto Final Ley may refer to: Toponyms * Ley (landform), name for a crag, rock or cliff in the north German language area * Ley (crater), crater on the Moon * Ley, Moselle, commune in France * Ley Hill, hill in England People * Ley Matampi (born 19 ...

'', sanctioned in 1986.

Divorce

In 1990, Quarracino attracted controversy after criticizing a recently approved divorce law, saying that it had been the work of "Masonic influences" and that it also severely "weakened the Argentine people's traditional religious spirit".

Argentine politics

Quarracino was opposed to the policies of president

Raúl Alfonsín Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (; 12 March 1927 – 31 March 2009) was an Argentine lawyer and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 10 December 1983 to 8 July 1989. He was the first democratically elected president after the 7-yea ...

(1983–1989) and accused politicians of corruption, as the cause of "national poverty". However, he acknowledged being a friend of president

Carlos Menem Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) served as the 50th president of Argentina for ten years, from 1989 to 1999. He identified as Peronism, Peronist, serving as President of the Justicialist Party for 13 years (from 1990 to 200 ...

(1989–1999) who was heavily criticized by other Church leaders (such as Cardinal Primatesta).

Homosexuality

In 1994, during his TV segment in ATC, Quarracino spoke against homosexuality saying that lesbians and gay men should be "locked up in a

ghetto A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group are concentrated, especially as a result of political, social, legal, religious, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other ...

". This caused an accusation of discrimination, which was not considered by justice because anti-discrimination Law 23592 did not cover sexual orientation. Three years before he had termed homosexuality "a deviation of human nature, like bestiality".

Boca Juniors

The Cardinal was an avowed fan of the

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

football team. When he celebrated his 50 years of priesthood he received a Boca Juniors shirt signed by all the team members.

References

External links

Catholic-Hierarchy.org

''Hoy'' magazine
La Plata, 1 March 1998. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Quarracino, Antonio 1923 births Argentine people of Italian descent 1998 deaths People from the Province of Salerno Argentine cardinals Participants in the Second Vatican Council Roman Catholic archbishops of Buenos Aires 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Argentina Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II Italian emigrants to Argentina Burials at Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral Roman Catholic bishops of Avellaneda-Lanús Roman Catholic bishops of Nueve de Julio Argentine Roman Catholic archbishops