Antonio Innocenti (23 August 1915 – 6 September 2008) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

cardinal who was a leading figure in the Roman Curia and the Vatican diplomatic service for many years.

Biography

He was born at

Poppi Poppi () is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Arezzo in the Italian region Tuscany, located about east of Florence and about northwest of Arezzo. Poppi borders the following municipalities: Bibbiena, Castel Focognano, Castel San N ...

, Italy. Ordained in 1938 at

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

, Innocenti was studied at the

Episcopal Seminary of Fiesole The Episcopal Seminary of Fiesole () is a former Roman Catholic seminary in Fiesole, Italy. Founded in the 17th century, the seminary was run by the Diocese of Fiesole until it was closed in 1970. Today, the seminary retains several pieces of hi ...

, the

Pontifical Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

where he received a doctorate in 1941, the

Pontifical Lateran University The Pontifical Lateran University ( it, Pontificia Università Lateranense; la, Pontificia Universitas Lateranensis), also known as Lateranum, is a pontifical university based in Rome. The university also hosts the central session of the Pont ...

, where he received a licentiate in

dogmatic theology Dogmatic theology, also called dogmatics, is the part of theology dealing with the theoretical truths of faith concerning God and God's works, especially the official theology recognized by an organized Church body, such as the Roman Catholic Ch ...

in 1950, and the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, where he studied diplomacy. He served as a priest in northern Italy for the decade following his ordination. His work helping Jews led to his arrest and almost being shot by a firing squad; he was released at the last minute. He was then called to Rome by Pope Pius XII and settled on a career in the Curia. He served for most of the 1950s and 1960s in the Papal Nunciature in Switzerland, where, as he saw it, the major problems were "an opulent society, religious assistance to immigrants and relations with Christian of other denominations". On 15 December 1967,

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo 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 to his death in Augus ...

named him

Titular Archbishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Eclano and Apostolic Nuncio to

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

. He was appointed Secretary of the Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments (now the

Congregation for Divine Worship it, Dicastero per il Culto Divino e la Disciplina dei Sacramenti , type = Dicastery , seal = Coat of arms Holy See.svg , seal_size = 100px , seal_caption = Coat of arms of the Holy See , logo = , p ...

) until 1980, when he became Nuncio to Spain. In 1985,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

made him a cardinal, and on 9 January 1986 appointed him Prefect of the

Congregation for the Clergy The Dicastery for the Clergy, formerly named Congregation for the Clergy (; formerly the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy and Sacred Congregation of the Council), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia responsible for overseeing matters regardi ...

, a post he held until his retirement in 1991. During Innocenti's time as Prefect, the Curia was extremely busy dealing with what was perceived as dangerous dissent from papal teaching, and Innocenti was heavily involved with many lay movements designed to restore orthodoxy among the Church's members. By 1999 he had retired to Piazza della Citta Leonina.

References

External links

Biography
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Innocenti, Antonio 20th-century Italian cardinals 1915 births 2008 deaths Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy alumni Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Pontifical Lateran University alumni Prefects of the Congregation for the Clergy Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II