Severino Poletto (18 March 1933 – 17 December 2022) was an Italian

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

who served as

Archbishop of Turin The Archdiocese of Turin ( la, Archidioecesis Taurinensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory of the Catholic Church in Italy.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 ...

in 2001.

Biography

Poletto was born in

Salgareda Salgareda is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Treviso in the Italian region Veneto, located about northeast of Venice and about east of Treviso. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 6,102 and an area of .All demographics a ...

, Veneto, on 18 March 1933, the youngest of 11 children, 9 of whom survived infancy. The family emigrated to the

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

in search of work in 1952. He studied at the seminary in

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...

and then at the major seminary in Casale Monferrato in the province of Alessandria. He was ordained a priest on 29 June 1957 by Bishop Giuseppe Angrisani of Casale Monferrato. He earned a licentiate in moral theology ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'' from the

Alphonsian Academy 150px, St. Alphonsus de Liguori, whose teachings inspired the establishment of the Academy. The Pontifical Alphonsian Academy (; ), also commonly known as the Alphonsianum, is a pontifical institution of higher education founded in 1949 by the Re ...

in Rome in 1977 and worked as a curate in Montemagno. In 1965 he was named parish priest in Oltreponte; at the same time he worked part-time in a local factory. In 1973, Poletto founded the Diocesan Centre for Family Ministry. On 3 April 1980, he was named bishop coadjutor of the

Diocese of Fossano The Italian Catholic Diocese of Fossano ( la, Dioecesis Fossanensis) is in Piedmont, in the Province of Cuneo. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Turin.Anastasio Ballestrero Anastasio Alberto Ballestrero (3 October 1913 – 21 June 1998) - in religious Anastasio del Santissimo Rosario - was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal and professed member from the Discalced Carmelites who served as the Archbishop of Turin ...

, Archbishop of Turin, and succeeded as bishop on 29 October. Poletto served for ten years as secretary of the Piedmontese Episcopal Conference. On 16 March 1989, he was named

Bishop of Asti The Diocese of Asti ( la, Dioecesis Astensis) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Piedmont, northern Italy, centered in the city of Asti. It has been a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Turin since 1515.

and on 19 June 1999 Archbishop of Turin. He was installed in Turin on 9 September.

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 ...

created him Cardinal-Priest of San Giuseppe in Via Trionfale on 21 February 2001. On 15 May John Paul named him a member 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 ...

and on 18 May of the

Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See The Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See was an office (a technical category of dicastery) of the Roman Curia, erected on 15 August 1967, and entrusted with overseeing all the offices of the Holy See that manage finances, regardl ...

and the

Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church The Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church () was an institution within the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church that presided over the guardianship of the historical and artistic patrimony of the entire Church - that is to sa ...

. Poletto 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 elected

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 ...

and the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis. Pope Benedict XVI accepted his resignation as Archbishop of Turin on 11 October 2010. Poletto died in

Moncalieri Moncalieri (; pms, Moncalé ) is a town and ''comune'' of 56,134 inhabitants (31 January 2022) about directly south of downtown Turin (to whose Metropolitan City it belongs), in Piedmont, Italy. It is the most populous suburb of Turin and it is ...

, just south of Turin, on 17 December 2022, at the age of 89.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Poletto, Severino 1933 births 2022 deaths People from the Province of Treviso Alphonsian Academy alumni 21st-century Italian cardinals Bishops of Asti Archbishops of Turin 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops 21st-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II Pontifical Lateran University alumni