Ordained by Pope Paul VI, the Archbishop of Genoa Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi is one of the newest Italian cardinals
Apr 07, 2005
Our one-hundred-thirty-eight red-hat we feature, in alphabetical order is the 65 year-old Italian Archbishop of Genoa Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, who taught Theology to seminarians for thirty years before being pegged as Archbishop of Ancona in 1989 and then in 1995 to Genoa. Ordained in 1957 by Pope Paul VI, then archbishop of Milan, he was elevated to the cardinalate during Pope John Paul II's most recent Consistory of February 21, 1997.
(DailyCatholic.org, Dec. 1999) One of the newer cardinals of the Church Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi was born in Renate Italy on March 14, 1934 and ordained a Diocesan priest on June 28, 1957 in the Diocese of Milan where he was ordained by Archbishop Giovanni Montini who would go on to become Pope Paul VI.
Father Tettamanzi was sent back to school where he received his Doctorate in Theology and then Archbishop Montini assigned him to teach fundamental Theology at the major seminary in Lower Venegono. From there he was transferred to teach Pastoral Theology at the Priestly Institute of Mary Immaculate as well as the Lombard Regional Institute of Pastoral Ministry.
From there he was appointed Rector of the Pontifical Lombard Seminary in Rome where he remained until the summer of 1989 when Pope John Paul II made him the new Archbishop of Ancona-Osimo and he was ordained and installed on July 1, 1989. He resigned this post in 1991 to become General Secretary of the Italian Episcopal Conference.
He held that position until being elected Vice President of the Italian Episcopal Conference in 1995. At the same time the Holy Father named Archbishop Tettamanzi the new Archbishop of Genoa on April 20, 1995. He remains in that post today. One further honor was due him and that came in the Holy Father's most recent Consistory of February 21, 1998 when he named Archbishop Tettamanzi to the cardinalate, bestowing on him the titular church of Sts. Ambrose and Charles. He was also assigned curial membership in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Congregation for Catholic Education as well as the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. At 65 he remains strongly involved in the Church and popular with his flock in the northern see of Genoa where he resides at Piazza Matteotti 4, 16123 in Genoa, Italy. Because of his lack of curial and international experience, he is not considered a serious candidate for the next papal election.
Ordained by Pope Paul VI, the Archbishop of Genoa Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi is one of the newest Italian cardinals