Fiorenzo Angelini (1 August 1916 – 22 November 2014) was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the President of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers in the

Roman Curia The Roman Curia () comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution of which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use ...

, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1991. When Cardinal Ersilio Tonini died on 28 July 2013, Cardinal Angelini became the oldest living cardinal until the next consistory where

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 98-year-old Archbishop Loris Francesco Capovilla as a cardinal.

Biography

Born in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Angelini studied at 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 ...

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 ...

, and Pontifical Theological Faculty Marianum before being

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 3 February 1940. He did

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 until 1956, and served as a chaplain in Azione Cattolica from 1945 to 1959. Angelini served as Master of Pontifical Ceremonies from 1947 to 1954, and for a few months he was a delegate for Roman hospitals. On 27 June 1956, he was appointed

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 ...

Messene Messene (Greek language, Greek: Μεσσήνη 𐀕𐀼𐀙 ''Messini''), officially Ancient Messene, is a local community within the regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') of Messenia in the region (''perifereia'') of Peloponnese (region), P ...

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

. Angelini received his episcopal consecration on 29 July from Cardinal Giuseppe Pizzardo, with Archbishop Luigi Traglia and Bishop Ismaele Castellano 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 ...

. He founded, in 1959, the Italian Catholic Doctors' Association, and 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 ...

(1962–1965). On 6 January 1977,

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 ...

named him an Auxiliary Bishop of

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 ...

raised him to the rank of

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

and appointed him as the first president of the newly created

Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers The Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers was a pontifical council set up on 11 February 1985 by Pope John Paul II who reformed the Pontifical Commission for the Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers into its new f ...

on 16 February 1985. He was created

Cardinal-Deacon 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. Ca ...

of ''

Santo Spirito in Sassia Church of the Holy Spirit in the Saxon District (Italian language, Italian: ''La chiesa di Santo Spirito in Sassia'') is a 12th-century Titular church, titular church in Rome, Italy. It is in ''Borgo Santo Spirito'', a street which got its name fr ...

'' by John Paul II 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 28 June 1991. Due to his responsibility for the health of the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

(head of the

, 1985–1996), which made him the leader of 3,000 institutions in Italy alone, Angelini (nicknamed ''Sua Sanità'') was involved in the

Tangentopoli (; ) was a nationwide judicial investigation into political corruption in Italy held in the early 1990s, resulting in the demise of the First Italian Republic and the disappearance of many political parties. Some politicians and industry leade ...

bribery scandal of the early 1990s. Accusations against him included the forced acceptance of his own people for public commissions, as well as

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

from a pharmaceutical company. Angelini was not prosecuted, due to the Vatican's extraterritorial privileges granted by the Lateran Pacts. Angelini was near to

Giulio Andreotti Giulio Andreotti ( ; ; 14 January 1919 – 6 May 2013) was an Italian politician and wikt:statesman, statesman who served as the 41st prime minister of Italy in seven governments (1972–1973, 1976–1979, and 1989–1992), and was leader of th ...

, a

Christian Democracy Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...

(DC) politician who was several times Prime Minister of Italy, and whose entourage fell from power in the same period by similar scandals (Andreotti himself was put on trial for associations with the mafia). Angelini celebrated the marriage of the daughter of Paolo Cirino Pomicino, another DC politician involved in the bribery scandals; the marriage was attended, amongst others, by Andreotti, Gianni De Michelis (also put on trial in the Tangentopoli scandal) and minister Francesco De Lorenzo, who was condemned to 5 years imprisonment for bribery in the management of Italy's Public Health sector. Angelini lost his right to vote in

papal conclave A conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to appoint the pope of the Catholic Church. Catholics consider the pope to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and the earthly head of the Catholic Church. Concerns around ...

s when he turned 80 on 1 August 1996. He retired as President of Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers on 31 December 1996, and on 26 February 2002, he exercised the right of becoming a cardinal priest after ten years as a cardinal deacon. Angelini has called for the opening of a cause for the

beatification Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the p ...

of French

geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic process ...

Jérôme Lejeune. In 1997 Angelini formed the International Institute for Research on the Face of Christ in Rome in association with the Sisters of the Reparation of the Holy Face. On 28 July 2013, day of the death of cardinal Ersilio Tonini, he became the oldest cardinal in the world. However, Loris Francesco Capovilla, who was elevated to cardinal on 22 February 2014, was older.

Angelini and Pope Pius XII

Angelini was a lifelong admirer of the late Pope Pius XII. In 1959, Angelini published the medical theological pronouncement of the late Pope, the only systematic compilation of the medical speeches and positions of

, in ''Pio XII Discorsi Ai Medici'' and went on to champion his cause for

canonization Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon ca ...

.Catholic World News
Sense of urgency: Pope Pius XII supporters await progress on cause
28 April 2006 Angelini was appointed bishop by Pius XII in 1956, but did not get the

galero A (plural: ; from , originally connoting a helmet made of skins; cf. '' galea'') is a broad-brimmed hat with tasselated strings which was worn by clergy in the Catholic Church. Over the centuries, the red ''galero'' was restricted to use by i ...

(red hat) until 1991. In a 1992 sermon in Saint Peter Basilica on the anniversary of the death of the pontiff, Angelini stated that his career had suffered because of his positive views of Pope Pius XII.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Angelini, Fiorenzo 1916 births 2014 deaths 21st-century Italian cardinals Participants in the Second Vatican Council Clergy from Rome Pontifical Lateran University alumni Pontifical Roman Seminary alumni Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II 20th-century Italian cardinals 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops Sasakawa Health Prize laureates