Cardinal Angelini, minister to the sick and poor, dies at 98
Cardinal Fiorenzo Angelini, known for his service to the poor and the sick in a ministry that began in Rome during World War II and included sheltering Jews from the Nazis, died the night of on Friday night at the age of 98.
At the time of his death, he was the only member of the College of Cardinals to have been born in Rome.
In a telegram to his relatives, Pope Francis described the cardinal as a “dear and esteemed pastor who exercised his long and intense ministry building up the church in Rome, in Italy and the world,” particularly through his “commendable apostolic passion in the hospitals and clinics of Rome and finally as president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry.”
Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, celebrated Cardinal Angelini’s funeral Mass Nov. 24 in St Peter’s Basilica and Pope Francis presided over the conclusion of the service, known as the final commendation.
Born August 1, 1916, during World War I, Fiorenzo Angelini was ordained to the priesthood in 1940 after studying at Rome’s minor seminary, the Pontifical Lateran University and the Pontifical Theological Faculty Marianum.
Assigned as an assistant pastor in a Rome parish, he opened a soup kitchen during the German occupation of the city and hid people being sought by the Nazis, including Jews. He said his actions were inspired by Pope Pius XII, and throughout Cardinal Angelini’s life he continued to advocate for the canonisation of the wartime pope.
From 1947 to 1954, he served Pope Pius as one of the liturgical masters of ceremony, taught religion in Rome public schools and served as the ecclesiastical assistant to the men’s section of Catholic Action. In 1956, Pope Pius named him a bishop; he served the Italian bishops’ conference and then became the auxiliary bishop of Rome in charge of the diocese’s health care programs.
In 1985, when St John Paul II established the first Vatican office promoting Catholic health care, he chose then-Bishop Angelini to lead it. The office became a pontifical council in 1988. St. John Paul made him a cardinal in 1991.
Under his leadership, the council began sponsoring international conferences focusing on scientific advances, the dignity of the human person and on the pastoral care of the sick. The morning of Cardinal Angelini’s death, the council was holding its annual conference at the Vatican. After addressing participants about the care of people with autism, Pope Francis led them in prayers for the repose of Cardinal Angelini’s soul.
With the death of Cardinal Angelini, the College of Cardinals has 209 members, 113 of whom are under the age of 80 and therefore eligible to vote in a conclave.
