Giovanni Lajolo

His Eminence
Giovanni Lajolo
President Emeritus of the Governatorate of Vatican City State

Cardinal Lajolo in Zarvanytsia, Ukraine; 18 July 2009
Appointed 15 September 2006
Term ended 1 October 2011
Predecessor Edmund Casimir Szoka
Successor Giuseppe Bertello
Other posts Cardinal-Deacon of S. Maria Liberatrice a Monte Testaccio
Orders
Ordination 29 April 1960
by Ugo Poletti
Consecration 6 January 1989
by Pope John Paul II
Created Cardinal 24 November 2007
by Pope Benedict XVI
Rank Cardinal-Deacon
Personal details
Birth name Giovanni Lajolo
Born (1935-01-03) 3 January 1935
Novara, Italy
Nationality Italian
Denomination Roman Catholic
Previous post
  • Titular Archbishop of Caesariana (1988–2007)
  • Secretary of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (1988–1995)
  • Apostolic Nuncio to Germany (1995–2003)
  • Secretary (Relations with States) of the Secretariat of State (2003–2006)
  • President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State (2006–2011)
Alma mater
Coat of arms
Styles of
Giovanni Lajolo
Reference style His Eminence
Spoken style Your Eminence
Informal style Cardinal

Giovanni Lajolo (born 3 January 1935 in Novara, Italy) is a Cardinal and former President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and President of the Governatorate of Vatican City State.

Early life and ordination

He studied at the Seminary of Novara, the Pontifical Roman Seminary, and the Pontifical Gregorian University where he earned a licentiate in philosophy in 1955 and a licentiate in theology in 1959. He was ordained a priest on 29 April 1960.[1] He entered the University of Munich where he studied for a doctorate in canon law which he was awarded in 1965. Then in 1965 he entered the elite Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy to study diplomacy, leaving in 1968.

Secretariat of State

He entered the service of the Secretariat of State in 1970. He worked in the nunciature in Germany collaborating with Corrado Bafile, future cardinal, from 1970 to November 1974. He was a staff member of the Council for Public Affairs of the Church from November 1974. He was named counselor of nunciature on 1 January 1983. He closely followed the negotiations that led to the signing, in 1984, of the revision of the concordat between Italy and Holy See.

Bishop

On 3 October 1988, Lajolo was appointed Secretary of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See and Titular Archbishop of Caesariana[2] by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on 6 January 1989 from John Paul himself, with archbishops Edward Idris Cassidy and José Tomás Sánchez serving as co-consecrators, in St. Peter's Basilica. Lajolo was later named Nuncio to Germany on 7 December 1995, and Secretary for Relations with States on 7 October 2003. As Secretary, he served as the foreign minister of the Vatican.

Secretary for Relations with States

He served as the Secretary for Relations with States in the Secretariat of State, or foreign minister of the Holy See, from 2003 until his appointment as president in 2006.[1] He speaks Italian, German, English and French.

At a 2004 conference Archbishop Lajolo said that perfect religious freedom does not exist in any country in the world. "Even in states in which the right to religious freedom is taken very seriously," he said, perfection is missing, often because a concern for church-state separation leads to penalising religious activity in the public sphere. He went on to say he said, government and taxation policies may limit the rights of parents to choose a religious education for their children or may penalise the charitable work of the church by not recognising its nonprofit status. Attempts to ban religiously motivated positions from public policy debates are also infringements on religious freedom, he said. Archbishop Lajolo and other speakers at the conference also voiced concern about the increasing threats to Christians in Iraq and in other countries with a Muslim majority following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.[3]

In 2005 Archbishop Lajolo was awarded Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.[4]

Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State

On 22 June 2006, Lajolo was appointed President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and of the Governorate of Vatican City State by Pope Benedict XVI. In virtue of these two posts, he is delegated legislative and executive authority over the Vatican City by the pope. He was appointed Cardinal-Deacon of S. Maria Liberatrice a Monte Testaccio in the consistory of 24 November 2007.[5]

As required by canon law he submitted his resignation to Pope Benedict having reached his 75th year in January 2010. His resignation was accepted on 3 September 2011, with Archbishop Giuseppe Bertello appointed as his successor starting on 1 October 2011.

He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2013 papal conclave that selected Pope Francis.

Curial work

He was granted membership in the Congregation for Bishops, Pontifical Council for Culture, and Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (of which he had once been Secretary) on 12 June 2008.[6] On 25 January 2010 he was appointed as a member of the Apostolic Signatura, the Church's highest court.[7] He will remain on as a member of these bodies until his 80th birthday.

References

  1. 1 2 "Biographical notes". Holy See. 13 June 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
  2. Caesariana (Titular See)- Catholic Hierarchy
  3. Uffici di Presidenza S.C.V. "President of the Governorate of Vatican City State". Governorate of Vatican City State. Archived from the original on 17 September 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
  4. "Nomina Di Cardinali Membri Dei Dicasteri Della Curia Romana". Rinunce e Nomine (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 12 June 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
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Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Lajos Kada
Apostolic Nuncio to Germany
7 December 1995 – 7 October 2003
Succeeded by
Erwin Ender
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Jean-Louis Tauran
Secretary for Relations with States
6 October 2003 – 15 September 2006
Succeeded by
Dominique Mamberti
Preceded by
Edmund Szoka
President of the Governatorate of Vatican City State
15 September 2006 – 1 October 2011
Succeeded by
Giuseppe Bertello
President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State
15 September 2006 – 1 October 2011
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