Severino Poletto (18 March 1933 – 17 December 2022) was an Italian cardinal 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 from 1999 to 2010. A bishop since 1980, he was made a cardinal 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 ...

in 2001.

Biography

Poletto was born in Salgareda, 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 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 So ...

'' from the Alphonsian Academy 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. He was consecrated a bishop on 17 May by Cardinal

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 Turi ...

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

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 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, regardle ...

and the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church. Poletto was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the

2005 papal conclave The 2005 papal conclave was convened to elect a new pope following the death of Pope John Paul II on 2 April 2005. After his death, the cardinals of the Catholic Church who were in Rome met and set a date for the beginning of the conclave to elec ...

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 The 2013 papal conclave was convened to elect a pope to succeed Pope Benedict XVI following his resignation on 28 February 2013. After the 115 participating cardinal-electors gathered, they set 12 March 2013 as the beginning of the 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