Loris Francesco Capovilla (14 October 1915 – 26 May 2016) was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate and a cardinal. At his death, he was the oldest living Roman Catholic bishop from Italy and the fourth oldest in the world. At the time of his elevation to the rank of cardinal in 2014, he was the oldest member of the

College of Cardinals The College of Cardinals (), also called the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. there are cardinals, of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Appointed by the pope, ...

. He served as the personal secretary to

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 ...

from 1958 to 1963.

Biography

Early life and priesthood

Capovilla was born in Pontelongo in 1915 as the son of Rodolfo Capovilla and Letizia Callegaro. He had one sister, Lia. He was baptized in Pontelongo. His father later died in 1922 and this in turn led Capovilla to move to

Mestre Mestre () is a borough of the comune of Venice on the mainland opposite the historical island city in the region of Veneto, Italy. Administratively, Mestre forms (together with the nearby Carpenedo) the Municipalità di Mestre-Carpenedo, one ...

in 1929 following a period of precariousness and wandering. Capovilla studied at the Patriarchal Seminary of

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

and was later

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 of the Archdiocese of Venice on 23 May 1940 by Cardinal Piazza, the

Patriarch of Venice The Patriarch of Venice (; ) is the ordinary of the Patriarchate of Venice. The bishop is one of only four patriarchs in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church. The other three are the Patriarch of Lisbon, the Patriarch of the East Indies an ...

. He was made the capitular master of ceremonies in the Basilica of Saint Mark and also served as a catechist in middle schools. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Capovilla served in military aviation and later went on to become a Sunday preacher at Radio Venezia from 1945 to 1953. He was also made the director of the diocesan weekly ''La Voce di San Marco'' in 1949. He formed a close friendship with Cardinal Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (later

) when the cardinal was the Patriarch of Venice. He commenced his service under Roncalli on 15 March 1953. He claimed, however, to have never called himself Roncalli's friend, but considered him his bishop, his father and his patriarch. He remained at Roncalli's side as papal secretary after Roncalli's election to the papacy in 1958 until his death in 1963. Capovilla served as Roncalli's conclavist at the conclave of 1958 that saw the latter's election. He was confirmed as the new pope's secretary on the night of the election and was made a Domestic Prelate of His Holiness on 12 December 1958. After the death of John XXIII in 1963,

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 as a prelate di anticamera and expert to 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 ...

Episcopate and cardinalate

Capovilla was appointed bishop of the Archdiocese of Chieti-Vasto on 26 June 1967 and consecrated on 16 July 1967 by

. The co-consecrators were Augusto Gianfranceshi and

Jacques-Paul Martin Jacques-Paul Martin (26 August 1908 – 27 September 1992) was a French people, French Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal, raised to the cardinalate in 1988. Education and progression through the Church Martin rec ...

. He chose as his motto the one used by Pope John XXIII. On 23 September 1971 he was appointed prelate to the Loreto Prelature and the Titular archbishop of Mesembria. His resignation from his position in Loreto was accepted on 10 December 1988. On 12 January 2014

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 ...

announced that Capovilla would be elevated to the College of Cardinals on 22 February 2014. Capovilla said it was a "sign of attention to all those thousands of priests around the world who have spent their lives in silence, in poverty, in obedience, happy to serve God and our humble people, who need, as Pope Francis continually says, tenderness, friendship, respect and love." Capovilla received a dispensation and did not attend the consistory where he was named cardinal. He said: "I'm not strong enough and I feel uncomfortable at the thought of meeting so many people." He was named

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 ''

Santa Maria in Trastevere The Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere () or Our Lady in Trastevere is a titulus (Roman Catholic), titular minor basilica in the Trastevere district of Rome, and one of the oldest churches of Rome. The basic floor plan and wall structure of the ...

''. Cardinal

Angelo Sodano Angelo Raffaele Sodano (23 November 1927 – 27 May 2022) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the Dean of the College of Cardinals from 2005 to 2019 and previously as the Cardinal Secretary of State from 1991 to 2006; S ...

, the

Dean of the College of Cardinals The dean of the College of Cardinals () presides over the College of Cardinals in the Catholic Church, serving as ('first among equals'). The position was established in the 12th century. He always holds the rank of a cardinal bishop and is as ...

, bestowed the biretta and cardinal's ring upon Capovilla on 1 March. He died in Bergamo on 26 May 2016. For his entire cardinalate, he was the oldest living Cardinal. In 1964, he published a memoir, ''The Heart and Mind of John XXIII: His Secretary's Intimate Recollection'' (published by Hawthorn Books). As of 2013, he resided in Sotto il Monte Giovanni XXIII, about northeast of Milan.

References

External links

Loris Francesco CapovillaLoreto Site

Chieti-Vasto Site
* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Capovilla, Loris Francesco 1915 births 2016 deaths 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic titular archbishops 21st-century Italian Roman Catholic titular archbishops Archbishops of Chieti Participants in the Second Vatican Council Cardinals created by Pope Francis 21st-century Italian cardinals Italian men centenarians Regia Aeronautica personnel of World War II Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

Biography

Early life and priesthood

Episcopate and cardinalate

See also

References

External links