Paolo Dezza, S.J. (13 December 1901 in Parma, Italy – 17 December 1999 in Rome) was an Italian Jesuit cardinal who led 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 ...

during the pontificate of Pope Pius XII, whom he aided in the preparation of the

dogma Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Isla ...

of the

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution '' Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by ...

. He was

confessor Confessor is a title used within Christianity in several ways. Confessor of the Faith Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith but not to the point of death.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 ...

and Paul's successor,

Pope John Paul I Pope John Paul I ( la, Ioannes Paulus I}; it, Giovanni Paolo I; born Albino Luciani ; 17 October 1912 – 28 September 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City from 26 August 1978 to his death 33 days later. Hi ...

, and was a teacher of Pope John Paul I's successor,

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 1981, after Superior General

Pedro Arrupe Pedro Arrupe Gondra, SJ (14 November 1907 – 5 February 1991) was a Spanish Basque priest who served as the 28th Superior General of the Society of Jesus from 1965 to 1983. He has been called a second founder of the Society, as he led the Jesui ...

suffered a debilitating stroke, Pope John Paul II appointed Dezza to head the Jesuit order. In 1991, Dezza was named a cardinal.

Biography

Aged seventeen, Dezza entered the Jesuit order on 2 December 1918. He studied both in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

, Spain

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, Italy and Innsbruck, Austria. On 25 March 1928, he was ordained priest. A brilliant scholar, he was named professor of philosophy at the Gregorian University, but had to spend several years in Switzerland because of health complications. In 1935, he was named Provincial for the region

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

and

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, and in 1941, he was named head of the Gregorian University With

Robert Leiber Robert Leiber, S.J. (10 April 1887 – 18 February 1967) was a close advisor to Pope Pius XII, a Jesuit priest from Germany, and Professor for Church History at the Gregorian University in Rome from 1930 to 1960. Leiber was, according to Pius's bi ...

Augustin Bea Augustin Bea, S.J. (28 May 1881 – 16 November 1968), was a German Jesuit priest, cardinal, and scholar at the Pontifical Gregorian University, specialising in biblical studies and biblical archaeology. He also served as the personal confessor ...

, Otto Faller, G. Hentrich and R. G. de Moos he assisted in the preparation of the

of the

. In 1945, he baptized

Israel Zolli Eugenio Maria Zolli (27 September 1881 ‒ 2 March 1956), born Israel Anton Zoller, was an Austrian by birth, and an Italian doctorate professor of philosophy and author. Until his conversion from Judaism to Catholicism in February 1945, Zolli w ...

, the Chief Rabbi of Rome and head of the Jewish community, who, in recognition of the interventions of Pope Pius XII for the Jews in Rome during German occupation, took on the name Eugenio Zolli. Eugenio Zolli worked for the rest of his life in the Gregorian University. Dezza was said to be a leading candidate in the election for a new Jesuit General in 1946. From 1951 on he headed as General Secretary the International Federation of Catholic Universities (FIUC). He was

John Paul I Pope John Paul I ( la, Ioannes Paulus I}; it, Giovanni Paolo I; born Albino Luciani ; 17 October 1912 – 28 September 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City from 26 August 1978 to his death 33 days later. Hi ...

. He arrived at the Vatican every Friday evening at seven P.M. The only words he ever spoke about his long service to Pope Paul VI during his pontificate were, "This pope is a man of great joy." After the death of

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 ...

, Dezza was more outspoken, saying, "If Paul VI was not a saint, when he was elected Pope, he became one during his pontificate. I was able to witness not only with what energy and dedication he toiled for Christ and the Church but also and above all, how much he suffered for Christ and the Church. I always admired not only his deep inner resignation but also his constant abandonment to divine providence." In 1981, the Jesuit Superior General,

, suffered a stroke. Leading Jesuits reportedly hoped that their Vicar General, an American, the Rev. Vincent O'Keefe, would be appointed interim Superior General until the next General Congregation of the Order.

, recovering from his assassination attempt, unexpectedly intervened and appointed Dezza instead as a special pontifical delegate to serve as the Jesuits' interim leader. The pope knew Dezza personally as his teacher. As a student in the Belgian College in Rome after the war, he had attended Dezza's lectures at the Pontifical Gregorian University. In 1983, at its 33rd General Congregation, the Jesuits elected Peter Hans Kolvenbach, a Dutch academic, as their new Superior General on the first ballot. The Pope elevated Dezza, aged 89, to cardinal in 1991 as

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 S. Ignazio di Loyola a Campo Marzio. In 1999, the Pope celebrated the funeral mass at which he said: Dezza is buried in the Church of Sant'Ignazio in Rome, near the grave of St.

Robert Bellarmine Robert Bellarmine, SJ ( it, Roberto Francesco Romolo Bellarmino; 4 October 1542 – 17 September 1621) was an Italian Jesuit and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was canonized a saint in 1930 and named Doctor of the Church, one of only 37. ...

Selected publications

*''Adnotationes in tractatum de ontologia.'' - Rome, 1930 *''La filosophia del christianesimo.'' -Milan, 1949 *''Metaphysica generalis.'' - Rome, 1964

Sources

"Homily of Pope John Paul II on Paolo Cardinal Dezza S J" on 20 December 1999 on the Vatican website
*Catholic Hierarch

*NY Times obituar

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dezza 1901 births 1999 deaths Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II 20th-century Italian cardinals 20th-century Italian Jesuits Italian religious writers 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic theologians Pope John Paul II Pope Paul VI Pope Pius XII advisers Catholic Mariology Jesuit cardinals