Camillo Ruini (; born 19 February 1931) 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 was made a

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 ...

in 1991. He served as president of the Italian Episcopal Conference from 1991 to 2007 and as Vicar General of the Diocese of Rome from 1991 to 2008. Ruini was very active as a spokesperson for the Church and was one of the Church officials who most often appeared on Italian television, newspapers and magazines.

Biography

Ruini was born in

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town is best known for being the centre of the Ita ...

, Emilia Romagna, on 19 February 1931. After studying at the

Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...

in Rome, he obtained a licentiate degrees in philosophy and in sacred theology. 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 ...

to the priesthood on 8 December 1954 by Archbishop Luigi Traglia. He taught philosophy at the diocesan

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

in Emilia Romagna from 1957 to 1968. From 1958 to 1966 he served as chaplain to university students and from 1966 to 1970 he served as a delegate for Azione Cattolica. From 1968 to 1986, he taught dogmatic theology at the Studio Teologico Interdiocesano of

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

-Reggio Emilia- Carpi-

Guastalla Guastalla ( Guastallese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Reggio Emilia in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Geography Guastalla is situated in the Po Valley, and lies on the banks of the Po River. Guastalla is located at around from the citi ...

, where he was also headmaster from 1968 to 1977. On 16 May 1983,

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 ...

named him

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

of Reggio Emilia and

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Nefta. He was consecrated a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

by Bishop Gilberto Baroni on 29 June. As vice president of the Preparatory Committee, he contributed to the realization of the Ecclesial Convention of Loreto (1985), which has become a reference point in the dialogue between the Church and Italian society following their difficult relationship of the 1960s and 1970s. In June 1986, Pope John Paul named him

secretary-general Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

of the Italian bishops conference. From 1988 to 2011 he was a consultor of the Congregation for Bishops. On 17 January 1991, Ruini was named auxiliary bishop and pro-vicar general for the

Diocese of Rome The Diocese of Rome (; ), also called the Vicariate of Rome, is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church under the direct jurisdiction of the pope, who is Bishop of Rome and hence the supreme pontiff and head of the worldwide Catholic Church. As ...

. On 17 March 1991 he became pro-president of the Italian bishops conference. He was made

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. ...

Sant'Agnese fuori le mura The church of Saint Agnes Outside the Walls () is a Titular church, titular churches of Rome, church, a minor basilica in Rome, on a site sloping down from the Via Nomentana, which runs north-east out of the city, still under its ancient name. W ...

on 28 June 1991 and named Vicar General of the Diocese of Rome and

archpriest The ecclesiastical title of archpriest or archpresbyter belongs to certain priests with supervisory duties over a number of parishes. The term is most often used in Eastern Orthodoxy and the Eastern Catholic Churches and may be somewhat analogo ...

of the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano on 1 July 1991. He was also grand chancellor of the Lateran University and the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. On 29 December 1992, Ruini became president of the Peregrinatio ad Petri Sedem, which promotes pilgrimages to Rome. He remained in this role until 2 May 1996. Ruini was also a member of the Congregation for Bishops, the

Pontifical Council for the Laity The Pontifical Council for the Laity was a pontifical council of the Roman Catholic Curia from 1967 to 2016. It had the responsibility of assisting the Pope in his dealings with the laity in lay ecclesial movements or individually, and their ...

, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, and the Council of Cardinals for the Study of Organizational and Economic Affairs of the Holy See. Ruini was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that elected

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

. On 17 March 2010, the Vatican formed a commission to look into the phenomenon of

Medjugorje Medjugorje (, ) is a village in the municipality of Čitluk in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since 1981, it has become a popular site of Catholic pilgrimage due to Our ...

, Bosnia-Herzegovina, where six young people have said they have had visions of Mary since the early 1980s. Ruini was its president. In January 2014 the commission submitted its findings to the

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is a department of the Roman Curia in charge of the religious discipline of the Catholic Church. The Dicastery is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of t ...

Politics

Ruini was seen as a social and political conservative, close to the positions of Popes

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 ...

and Benedict XVI. He was very active in the mass media and was the strongest voice of the Church against the spring 2005

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

for the liberalization of Italy's legal restrictions on

artificial insemination Artificial insemination is the deliberate introduction of sperm into a female's cervix or uterine cavity for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy through in vivo fertilization by means other than sexual intercourse. It is a fertility treatment ...

. He commented upon the issue of the 1999 French Pacte civil de solidarité for unmarried couples of the same or opposite sex. In 2007 a bill was proposed in the Italian Senate for a law on civil unions. The bishops conference opposed this proposal.

Retirement

On 7 March 2007,

named Archbishop

Angelo Bagnasco Angelo Bagnasco (; born 14 January 1943) is an Italian Cardinal (Catholicism), Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Genoa, Archbishop of Genoa from 2006 to 2020. He was President of the Conferenza Episcopale It ...

to succeed Ruini as President of the Italian Episcopal Conference. His resignation from his other positions was accepted by

on 27 June 2008. As of 21 June 2013, Ruini was serving as the president of the Scientific Committee of the Ratzinger Foundation. Ruini was hospitalized for more than a week in July 2024. He had a pacemaker implanted to address a cardiac ischemia.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruini 1931 births Living people People from Sassuolo 20th-century Italian cardinals Cardinal Vicars Vatican City people 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops Almo Collegio Capranica alumni 21st-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II Pontifical Gregorian University alumni 21st-century Italian cardinals