Fiorenzo Angelini
| His Eminence Fiorenzo Angelini |
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|---|---|
| Cardinal-Priest of S. Spirito in Sassia (since 2002) |
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| Other posts | Titular Bishop of Messene (1956–1991) President of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers (1985–1996) Cardinal-Deacon of S. Spirito in Sassia (1991–2002) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | February 3, 1940 |
| Consecration | July 29, 1956 |
| Created Cardinal | June 28, 1991 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 1, 1916 Rome, Italy |
Fiorenzo Angelini (born August 1, 1916) is an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the former President of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers in the Roman Curia, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1991.
[edit] Biography
Born in Rome, Angelini studied at the Pontifical Roman Seminary, Pontifical Lateran University, and Pontifical Theological Faculty Marianum before being ordained to the priesthood on February 3, 1940. He did pastoral 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 June 27, 1956, he was appointed Titular Bishop of Messene by Pope Pius XII. Angelini received his episcopal consecration on July 29 from Cardinal Giuseppe Pizzardo, with Archbishop Luigi Traglia and Bishop Ismaele Castellano serving as co-consecrators. He founded, in 1959, the Italian Catholic Doctors' Association, and attended the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). On January 6, 1977, Pope Paul VI named him an Auxiliary Bishop of Rome. Pope John Paul II raised him to the rank of Archbishop and appointed him as the first president of the newly created Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers on February 16, 1985. He was created Cardinal Deacon of Santo Spirito in Sassia by John Paul II in the consistory of June 28, 1991.
Due to his responsibility for the health of the Vatican (head of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers, 1985–1996), which made him the leader of 3,000 institutions in Italy alone, Angelini (nicknamed Sua Sanità) was involved in the Tangentopoli bribery scandal of the early 1990s.[1] Accusations against him included the forced acceptance of his own people for public commissions, as well as extortion from a pharmaceutical company.[2][3] Angelini was not prosecuted, due to the Vatican's extraterritorial privileges granted by the Lateran Pacts. Angelini was near to Giulio Andreotti, a Christian Democracy (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.[4]
He retired as President of Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers on December 31, 1996, and on February 26, 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 of French geneticist Jérôme Lejeune.[5] Angelini lost his right to vote in papal conclaves when he turned 80 on August 1, 1996.
[edit] Angelini and Pope Pius XII
Angelini is a life-long 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 Pope Pius XII, in Pio XII Discorsi Ai Medici[6] and went on to champion his cause for canonization.[7] Angelini was appointed bishop by Pius XII in 1956, but did not get the galero (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.
[edit] References
- ^ Nuzzi, Gianluigi. "Sua Sanità Fiorenzo Angelini". Vaticano S.p.A.. http://www.indignatospeciale.com/news.asp?id=305. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
- ^ D'Errico, Enzo. "Uno sponsor politico per ogni farmaco". Corriere della Sera. http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1993/ottobre/27/uno_sponsor_politico_per_ogni_co_0_9310277659.shtml. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
- ^ Marino, Giovanni. "I trecendo miliardi di Poggiolini". La Repubblica. http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1993/10/01/trecento-miliardi-di-poggiolini.html. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
- ^ Longo, Alessandra. "Angelini, il Richelieu delle medicine". La Repubblica. http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1993/10/12/angelini-il-richelieu-delle-medicine.html. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
- ^ What the Cardinals Believe. French Pro-Life Geneticist Jerome Lejeune to be Considered for Catholic Beatification April 15, 2005
- ^ Edizioni Orizzonte Medico, Rome, 1959
- ^ Catholic World News. Sense of urgency: Pope Pius XII supporters await progress on cause April 28, 2006
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by none |
President of Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers 1985—1996 |
Succeeded by Javier Lozano Barragán |
