Virgilio Noè

Virgilio Cardinal Noè (30 March 1922 – 24 July 2011) was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate.

Born in 1922 in Zelata di Bereguardo, Lombardy, Noè studied at the Seminary of Pavia. He was sent to Rome in 1948 by Bishop Carlo Allorio of Pavia to the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he earned a doctorate in ecclesiastical history in 1952, and was ordained on 1 October 1944.

He served as Undersecretary of the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship from 1969–75. In 1970, he was appointed the first Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations by Pope Paul VI. He was appointed Undersecretary for the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in 1975, holding this post for two years. On 30 January 1982 he was appointed Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments and that same day was appointed Titular Archbishop of Voncaria. He held his position at the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments until 1989.

Styles of Virgilio Noè
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Voncaria (Titular)

Noè was created Cardinal-Deacon of S. Giovanni Bosco in Via Tuscolana in the consistory of 28 June 1991 by Pope John Paul II. Three days later, he was made Archpriest of the Vatican Basilica, Vicar-General of His Holiness for Vatican City State, and President of the Fabric of St. Peter, offices he would hold until April 2002.

Cardinal Noè, like nearly all who served as Cardinal-Deacons for ten years, took the option of being elevated to the level of Cardinal-Priest with the titular church of Regina Apostolorum as of 26 February 2002. He attracted attention when he claimed that Pope Paul VI had referred to priests who celebrated the Mass badly as introducing the "smoke of Satan" into the Catholic Church.

Death

On 24 July 2011, Cardinal Noè died in Rome at the age of 89.