VATICAN CITY, JULY 11, 2002 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II named Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi the new archbishop of Milan, to replace the retiring Cardinal Carlo Martini.
Cardinal Martini was archbishop of Milan since Dec. 29, 1979. He presented his resignation to the Pope on Feb. 15, his 75th birthday. Milan, with 5 million faithful, is one of the largest archdioceses in the world.
Cardinal Tettamanzi, 68, now until the archbishop of Genoa, is a native of the Archdiocese of Milan. He was ordained a priest in 1957 by Archbishop Giovanni Battista Montini, the future Pope Paul VI. The Vatican Press Office announced the cardinal’s new post today.
In 1959, Dionigi Tettamanzi presented his doctoral thesis in theology at the Gregorian University on “The Apostolic Duty of the Laity.”
He has been a professor of theology in seminaries and theological institutes in Milan and northern Italy. Early in the 1980s, he was appointed consultor for various Vatican organizations. He has also advised bishops’ synods as an expert.
In 1987 he was appointed rector of the Lombardian Seminary of Rome by the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education. During that period, he taught moral theology at the Gregorian.
On July 1, 1989, he was appointed archbishop of Ancona-Osimo. Shortly after, he was consecrated bishop by Cardinal Martini himself. On March 14, 1991, he was appointed secretary-general of the Italian bishops’ conference.
John Paul II transferred him to the Archdiocese of Genoa on April 20, 1995, and made him a cardinal during the consistory of Feb. 21, 1998.
When he heard of the new appointment, Monsignor Carlo Caviglione, spokesman of the Archdiocese of Genoa, cited Cardinal Tettamanzi’s “passion to be among the people” as a key characteristic of his pastoral ministry.
The spokesman also recalled that last year, during the G-8 summit in Genoa, in which a youth died during a protest march, some journalists launched a campaign against the archbishop, accusing him of supporting anti-globalization movements.
“In writings and statements, the cardinal has always maintained the need to think of the poor and to help them with greater seriousness, vigorously adopting this position so that the great of the world will not forget their grave responsibilities,” the spokesman said.
