Eduardo Martínez Somalo

His Eminence Eduardo Martínez Somalo
Prefect Emeritus, Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
Appointed	21 January 1992
Term ended	11 February 2004
Predecessor	Jean Jérôme Hamer, OP
Successor	Franc Rode CM
Orders
Ordination	19 March 1950 by Luigi Traglia
Consecration	13 December 1975 by Jean-Marie Villot
Created cardinal	28 June 1988
Personal details
Born	Eduardo Martínez Somalo (1927-03-31) 31 March 1927 Baños de Río Tobía, Kingdom of Spain
Nationality	Spanish
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Alma mater	Pontifical Gregorian University
Coat of arms

Styles of Eduardo Martínez Somalo
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Thagora (titular see)

Eduardo Martínez Somalo (Spanish pronunciation: [eˈðwaɾ.ðo maɾˈtineθ soˈmalo]; born 31 March 1927) is a Spanish Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.

Biography

On 5 April 1993 Martínez was named Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, an office of special importance when the papacy is vacant. He served in that position until his 80th birthday. He was the acting sovereign of Vatican City from the death of Pope John Paul II to the election of Pope Benedict XVI. Martínez retired as Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life on 11 February 2004. He participated as a Cardinal elector in the 2005 Papal conclave, but he lost the right to participate in future conclaves on his 80th birthday. On his 80th birthday he also ceased to be Camerlengo, and was succeeded in that post by Tarcisio Bertone, who also served as Secretary of State.

External links

• "Martínez Somalo Card. Eduardo". Holy See Press Office. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
• Letter to Cardinal Martínez Somalo from Pope Benedict on his resignation as Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church