The Salesian Cardinals

Don Bosco’s Sons Who Became Cardinals

Rosalio José Castillo Lara

(ANS – Rome – Sept. 18, 2023) – In the consistory of May 25, 1985 – for the only time in history – 3 sons of Don Bosco were simultaneously created cardinals by Pope John Paul II: Curial Bishops Alfons Maria Stickler and Rosalio José Castillo Lara and the archbishop of Managua and primate of Nicaragua, Archbishop Miguel Obando Bravo.

Born in San Casimiro, Venezuela, on September 4, 1922, he was the 3d of 7 children. He knew the Salesians from an early age, attending elementary and middle schools in Valencia and then San José High School in Los Teques. Entry into the Salesian novitiate in Bogotá was therefore pretty much inevitable. After religious formation and philosophical and theological studies, he was ordained in Caracas on September 4, 1949, by his uncle, Archbishop Lucas Guillermo Castillo Hernandez.

In 1950 he was sent to Turin to study canon law at the Salesian University and there, in 1953, he graduated with full marks. In September 1954 he became a lecturer at the School of Canon Law at the Salesian University, where he taught for 11 years, in Turin until 1957, and then, with the school’s transfer, in Rome until 1965.

A brilliant mind, a great scholar and teacher, also endowed with a hardworking spirit and skilled in carrying out new projects, he did not go unnoticed by his superiors first, and by the highest Vatican authorities, who over the years entrusted him with ever new and ever greater responsibilities.

In December 1965 he was appointed provincial of Venezuela, but he did not complete 6 years in that role before that he was called to serve as regional councilor for America South Cone in 1967. After 4 years the 20th General Chapter in 1971-72 elected him general councilor for youth ministry.

But also in this case another appointment prevented him from completing the 6-year term: on March 26, 1973, Pope Paul VI made him titular bishop of Precausa and sent him back to his homeland as coadjutor bishop of Trujillo. He received his episcopal ordination on the feast of Mary Help of Christians, May 24, 1974, choosing Misericordia et Veritas as his episcopal motto.

A few months later he was recalled to Rome, to become, from February 12, 1975, secretary of the Pontifical Commission for the Revision of the Code of Canon Law (the current Dicastery for Legislative Texts). Later he also became a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Interpretation of the Decrees of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council and a consultant to the congregations for Catholic Education and the Sacraments. On October 5, 1981, he was also appointed president of the Disciplinary Commission of the Roman Curia.

On  May 22, 1982 he was promoted to pro-president of the Pontifical Commission for the Revision of the Code of Canon Law and on May 26 he was elevated to archbishop.

After being created cardinal in 1985, and after leaving the leadership of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts, he was entrusted in December 1989 with the presidency of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See and later also for administering the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State.

It was under his guidance that construction of the current Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican began, where Pope Francis currently resides.

Never forgetting his origins and his land, on several occasions he criticized the anti-democratic drifts of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. In fact, no representative of the Venezuelan government attended the cardinal's funeral, though some representatives of regional governments not linked to the President took part. He died in Caracas on October 16, 2007.