Carlo Mario Francesco Pompedda (18 April 1929 – 18 October 2006) was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and the Prefect of the

Apostolic Signatura The Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura () is the highest judicial authority in the Catholic Church (apart from the pope himself, who as supreme ecclesiastical judge is the final point of appeal for any ecclesiastical judgment). In additio ...

for the Roman Curia. He spent nearly fifty years in a variety of posts within the Catholic Church's

ecclesiastical court An ecclesiastical court, also called court Christian or court spiritual, is any of certain courts having jurisdiction mainly in spiritual or religious matters. In the Middle Ages, these courts had much wider powers in many areas of Europe than be ...

system, from 1955 to 2004.

Biography

Pompedda was born in

Ozieri Ozieri ( sc, Otieri) is a town and ''comune'' of approximatively 11,000 inhabitants in the province of Sassari, northern Sardinia (Italy), in the Logudoro historical region. Its cathedral of the Immacolata is the episcopal see of the Roman Cath ...

in Sardinia. He studied at

seminaries A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

Sassari Sassari (, ; sdc, Sàssari ; sc, Tàtari, ) is an Italian city and the second-largest of Sardinia in terms of population with 127,525 inhabitants, and a Functional Urban Area of about 260,000 inhabitants. One of the oldest cities on the island, ...

and

Cuglieri Cuglieri ( sc, Cùllieri) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Oristano in the Italian region Sardinia, located about northwest of Cagliari and about north of Oristano Oristano (; sc, Aristanis ) is an Italian city and ''comune ...

and was ordained a priest in Rome on 23 December 1951. He obtained a doctorate in theology from 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 ...

, and a doctorate ''in utroque iure'' (in civil law and canon law) from 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 Ponti ...

. He became an officer of the

Roman Rota The Roman Rota, formally the Apostolic Tribunal of the Roman Rota ( la, Tribunal Apostolicum Rotae Romanae), and anciently the Apostolic Court of Audience, is the highest appellate tribunal of the Catholic Church, with respect to both Latin-r ...

, the general

appellate court A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...

of the Catholic Church, in 1955, serving as a

defender of the bond The defender of the bond ( la, defensor vinculi or ''defensor matrimonii'') is a Catholic Church official whose duty is to defend the marriage bond in the procedure prescribed for the hearing of matrimonial causes which involve the validity or ...

. He joined the tribunal as an auditor in 1969 and served in that capacity until he became

Dean of the Roman Rota The Dean of the Roman Rota (''Decanus Rotæ Romanæ'') is the senior auditor of the Roman Rota, Tribunal of the Roman Rota, the supreme court, last instance appellate court, appellate tribunal of the Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church. On 30 M ...

in 1993. He was appointed Prefect of the

Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura The Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura () is the highest judicial authority in the Catholic Church (apart from the pope himself, who as supreme ecclesiastical judge is the final point of appeal for any ecclesiastical judgment). In additio ...

, the highest tribunal in the church, in 1999. He resigned this position, as is customary, upon reaching the age of 75, on 18 April 2004, and his resignation was accepted on 27 May 2004. Pompedda was appointed

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 ''Bisarcio'' on 29 November 1997 and consecrated on 6 February 1998. He was proclaimed a

Cardinal-Deacon A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

of '' Santissima Annunciazione della Beata Vergine Maria a Via Ardeatina'' by

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 ...

on 21 February 2001. He was one of the

cardinal electors A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

. It was suspected that he may have been the source of information about the conclave published in the Italian journalist Lucio Brunelli in the journal ''

Limes Limes may refer to: * the plural form of lime (disambiguation) * the Latin word for ''limit'' which refers to: ** Limes (Roman Empire) (Latin, singular; plural: ) is a modern term used primarily for the Germanic border defence or delimiting ...

'' in September 2005; many also suspected that the information was false. Cardinal Pompedda also served as president of the

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

and, from 1999, as president of the

Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...

of Vatican City. He is credited with drafting '' Universi Dominici Gregis''. Pompedda taught

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

at the

. He was also involved in the revision of the code of canon law in 1983, the first substantial revision since 1917. He was also the principal editor of '' Universi Dominici Gregis'', the apostolic constitution of Pope John Paul II published in 1995, which set the rules for the ''

sede vacante ''Sede vacante'' ( in Latin.) is a term for the state of a diocese while without a bishop. In the canon law of the Catholic Church, the term is used to refer to the vacancy of the bishop's or Pope's authority upon his death or resignation. Hi ...

'' and papal conclave. He supported proposals to make it easier to obtain an annulment of marriage, and gave several public lectures in 2003 outlining the changes. He retired before the changes were implemented, and the final document, '' Dignitas connubii'', did not go as far he had expected, reaffirming existing doctrine instead. Pompedda was appointed as the Cardinal Grand Prior of the

Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George (SMOCG) ( it, Sacro Militare Ordine Costantiniano di San Giorgio, es, Sagrada Orden Militar Constantiniana de San Jorge), also historically referred to as the Imperial Constantinian Order ...

by order of the Grand Master, the Duke of Castro. In November 2003, he became the Ecclesiastical Counsellor of the Order by appointment of

. This position continued under

. Cardinal Pompedda died in Rome of a

brain hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

. He was buried in a tomb in the cathedral in Ozieri. On 18 February 2010, his remains were reinterred in a specially constructed sarcophagus in the cathedral of Ozieri at the chapel of the Most Holy Sacrament. The requiem mass was celebrated at 5 pm, presided by Bishop

Sergio Pintor Sergio Pintor (16 November 1937 – 26 December 2020) was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate, who served as a Diocesan Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ozieri. Msgr Pintor had previously served as director of the CEI's office for the pasto ...

of Ozieri. At the end of the mass, Mgr

Giuseppe Sciacca Giuseppe Sciacca (born 23 February 1955) is the current Secretary of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura since his appointment by Pope Francis on July 16, 2016, replacing the retiring Archbishop Frans Daneels. Previously, he had ser ...

, judge of the

and a long time collaborator of Cardinal Pompedda, read a special message sent for the occasion by Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone, S.D.B., secretary of State, in the name of Pope Benedict XVI.

References

External links

Bio
from ewtn.com
News article
about Pompedda's resignation, 28 May 2004

''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

, 3 November 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Pompedda, Mario Francesco 1929 births 2006 deaths Sardinian Roman Catholic priests People from Ozieri 21st-century Italian cardinals Almo Collegio Capranica alumni Prefects of the Apostolic Signatura Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II Pontifical Gregorian University alumni 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests