Salvatore Pappalardo (23 September 1918 – 10 December 2006) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who was

Archbishop of Palermo The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Palermo () is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church. It was founded as the Diocese of Palermo in the first century and raised to the status of archdiocese in the 11th century.Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

to speak out against

the Mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other organized crime groups from Italy. The central ...

, breaking its code of

omertà Omertà () is a Southern Italian code of silence and code of honor and conduct that places importance on silence in the face of questioning by authorities or outsiders; non-cooperation with authorities, the government, or outsiders, especially ...

(vow of silence).

Biography

Pappalardo was born in Villafranca Sicula in Sicily. He was ordained as a priest in Rome on 12 April 1941, and was a Counsellor 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 ...

Secretariat of State from 1947 to 1965, receiving in 1951 the title of Privy Chamberlain 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 ...

, and in 1961 that of

Domestic Prelate Domestic may refer to: In the home * Anything relating to the human home or family ** A domestic animal, one that has undergone domestication ** A domestic appliance, or home appliance ** A domestic partnership ** Domestic science, sometimes cal ...

. He was appointed titular archbishop of

Miletus Miletus (Ancient Greek: Μίλητος, Mílētos) was an influential ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in present day Turkey. Renowned in antiquity for its wealth, maritime power, and ex ...

and Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Indonesia on 7 December 1965. He was appointed President of the

Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy The Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy (, ) is one of the Roman Colleges of the Catholic Church. The academy is dedicated to training priests to serve in the diplomatic corps and the Secretariat of State of the Holy See. Despite its name, the P ...

in Rome on 7 May 1969. He was named Archbishop of Palermo on 17 October 1970. 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. ...

of Santa Maria Odigitria dei Siciliani by

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 ...

on 5 March 1973. He was considered ''

papabile ( , , ; plural: ; ) is an unofficial Italian term coined by Vaticanologists and used internationally in many languages to describe a Catholic man—in practice, always a cardinal—who is thought of as a likely or possible candidate to be ...

'' in the

October 1978 conclave A papal conclave was held from 14 to 16 October 1978 to elect a new pope to succeed John Paul I, who had died on 28 September 1978, just 33 days after his election. All 111 eligible cardinal electors attended. On the eighth ballot, the concl ...

that followed the death of

Pope John Paul I Pope John Paul I (born Albino Luciani; 17 October 1912 – 28 September 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 26 August 1978 until his death 33 days later. His reign is among the shortest in papal h ...

. He would have been the first Sicilian pope in twelve centuries. Pappalardo spoke out against the Mafia from the 1980s. At the funeral of Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa in 1982, who had been murdered along with his wife in Palermo, he criticised the Italian political establishment for failing to guarantee security in Sicily. He became more explicit in the early 1990s, after other anti-Mafia lawyers, policemen and priests had been murdered. At the funeral of

Giovanni Falcone Giovanni Falcone (; 18 May 1939 – 23 May 1992) was an Italian judge and prosecuting magistrate. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, Sicily, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Sicilian ...

in 1992, who was also murdered along with his wife near Palermo, he described the murderers as part of a "

synagogue of Satan In the letters to the early Christian churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia in Revelation 2:9 and 3:9, Jesus makes reference to a synagogue of Satan (, ''synagoge tou satana''), in each case referring to a group persecuting the church "who say t ...

", leading to criticism from

Italian Jews Italian Jews (; ) or Roman Jews (; ) can be used in a broad sense to mean all Jews living in or with roots in Italy, or, in a narrower sense, to mean the Italkim, an ancient community living in Italy since the Ancient Roman era, who use the It ...

. He later apologised, having meant the word synagogue in its "old sense, as a gathering place". In 1993, at the funeral of murdered priest

Pino Puglisi Giuseppe "Pino" Puglisi (, ; 15 September 1937 – 15 September 1993) was a Roman Catholic priest in the rough Palermo neighbourhood of Brancaccio. He openly challenged the Sicilian Mafia who controlled the neighbourhood and was killed by them o ...

, he called for the people of Sicily to rise up against the Mafia. He was awarded the title of Knight of the Grand Cross of the Italian Republic by Italian president

Sandro Pertini Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio "Sandro" Pertini (; 25 September 1896 – 24 February 1990) was an Italian socialist politician and statesman who served as President of Italy from 1978 to 1985. Early life Born in Stella (province of Savona) as t ...

He retired upon the appointment of Salvatore De Giorgi as his successor on 4 April 1996. He died in Palermo on 10 December 2006 and was buried in the chapel of Santa Cristina in the

Cathedral of Palermo Palermo Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Palermo, located in Palermo, Sicily, southern Italy. It is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. As an architectural complex, it is characterized by the pr ...

on 12 December.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pappalardo, Salvatore 1918 births 2006 deaths Religious leaders from the Province of Agrigento 21st-century Italian cardinals Apostolic nuncios to Indonesia Roman Catholic archbishops of Palermo Cardinals created by Pope Paul VI Pontifical Roman Seminary alumni Presidents of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy 20th-century Italian cardinals 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops