Ermenegildo Florit (5 July 1901 – 8 December 1985) was an Italian

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 Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Florence from 1962 to 1977, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1965.

Biography

Ermenegildo Florit was born in Fagagna, and attended the

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 ...

Udine Udine ( ; ; ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Carnic Alps. It is the capital of the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity ...

, the

Pontifical Roman Seminary The Pontifical Roman Major Seminary () is the major seminary of the Diocese of Rome. It is located at the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran. Since 2017, the rector of the seminary has been Gabriele Faraghini, a priest of the Little Brothers of ...

, and the

Pontifical Biblical Institute The Pontifical Biblical Institute (also known as Biblicum) is a research and postgraduate teaching institution specialised in biblical and ancient Near Eastern studies located in Rome. Founded in 1909 by Pope Pius X, it is an institution of the ...

and

Pontifical Lateran University The Pontifical Lateran University (; ), also known as Lateranum, is a pontifical university based in Rome. The university also hosts the central session of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. The university ...

in Rome. Before finishing his studies in 1927, 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 11 April 1925. Florit served as a professor (1929–1954) and later the dean of

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 ...

and vice- rector (1951–1954) at the Pontifical Lateran University, while also doing

pastoral The pastoral genre of literature, art, or music depicts an idealised form of the shepherd's lifestyle – herding livestock around open areas of land according to the seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. The target au ...

work in Rome. In 1951, he was made a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

of St. Mark's Basilica and, on 21 August, a domestic prelate of his holiness. On 12 July 1954, Florit was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

and

Titular Archbishop 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 Hierapolis in Syria. He received his episcopal consecration on the following 12 September from Cardinal Clemente Micara, with Archbishop Luigi Traglia and Bishop Emilio Pizzoni serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...

, in the Lateran Basilica. Florit succeeded the late

Elia Dalla Costa Elia Dalla Costa (14 May 1872 – 22 December 1961) was an Italian people, Italian Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic prelate and Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal who served as the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Florence, Archbishop of ...

as Archbishop of Florence on 9 March 1962, and then attended 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 ...

until 1965. During the council, he was heavily involved with the drafting of '' Dei verbum'', the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation. Alberigo, Giuseppe & Komonchak, Joseph A. (2006). ''A Brief History of Vatican II''. Orbis Books.

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 ...

created him

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 Regina Apostolorum 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 22 February 1965. In 1968, the cardinal engaged in a dispute with the popular Florentine priest Enzo Mazzi, whose rebellious attitude the former saw as a threat to "ecclesiastical unity"."Rebellion in the Backyard"
''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

''. 27 December 1968. Resigning as

's archbishop on 3 June 1977, Florit was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the conclaves of

August August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Southern Hemisphere, August is the seasonal equivalent of February in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Northern Hemisphere, August ...

and October 1978, which selected Popes John Paul I and

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 ...

respectively. He died in Florence, at age 84, and is buried in the Basilica of Santa Maria del Fiore.

References

External links

Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Florit, Ermenegildo 1901 births 1985 deaths People from Fagagna 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops Roman Catholic archbishops of Florence 20th-century Italian cardinals Participants in the Second Vatican Council Cardinals created by Pope Paul VI Pontifical Lateran University alumni Pontifical Roman Seminary alumni Pontifical Biblical Institute alumni