Cardinal Angelo Amato Has Died
“Spiritual son of St.
John Bosco spent himself for the Gospel for many years with generosity”
Photo: Vatican News
(ANS - Vatican City
– January 2, 2025) - Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect emeritus of the
Congregation for the Causes of Saints, passed away on December 31. He was 86
years old. Following his death, the College of Cardinals now consists of 252
cardinals, of whom 139 are electors and 113 are non-electors.
There are now 10 living
Salesian cardinals, 5 of whom are potential electors in a conclave.
“I give thanks to
God for the edifying witness of this spiritual son of St. John Bosco who for so
many years spent himself with human finesse and generosity for the Gospel and
the Church. I think of his priestly spirit and the theological preparation with
which he served the Holy See, especially in the Dicastery for the Doctrine of
the Faith and the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. I assure you of my
prayers for the soul of this good servant.” This is how Pope Francis remembers
Salesian Cardinal Angelo Amato, in a telegram addressed to the vicar of the
Rector Major, Fr. Stefano Martoglio.
Angelo Amato was
born in Molfetta (Bari), on June 8, 1938, to a family of shipbuilders. The
first of four children, he had undertaken his studies at the Nautical Institute
in Bari, in the long-distance captains department. But at the beginning of his
third year of studies, in October 1953, he decided to abandon this career to
enter the Salesian aspirantate in Torre Annunziata. In 1956, he made his first
religious profession. After moving to Rome, he studied at the Pontifical
Salesian Athenaeum (now the Pontifical Salesian University), obtaining a licentiate
in philosophy. In 1962 he made his perpetual religious profession and began 2
years of practical training at the Salesian school in Cisternino (Brindisi),
where he taught literature in the middle school. After obtaining a licentiate
in theology at the Salesian University’s School of Theology in Rome, he was
ordained a priest on December 22, 1967.
He enrolled at the
Pontifical Gregorian University, and in 1974 obtained a doctorate in theology
and was immediately called to teach the subject. In 1977 he was sent to Greece
by the Secretariat for Christian Unity, spending 4 months in the Jesuits’
Athens residence to prepare for university enrolment. After passing the
entrance exam (modern written and spoken Greek), he moved to Thessaloniki as a
scholarship holder for the patriarchate of Constantinople. He resided at the
Vlatadon Monastery, home of the Orthodox monks’ convent and the Idrima ton
Paterikon Meleton (Institute of Patristic Studies), with a library specializing
in Orthodox theology and a valuable microfilm collection of Mount Athos
manuscripts. He then enrolled in the School of Theology at the University of
Thessaloniki, attending Jannis Kaloghirou’s lectures on the history of dogma
and Jannis Romanidis’s lectures on systematic dogmatics. At the same time, he
conducted research on the sacrament of penance in Greek Orthodox theology from
the 16th to the 20th century, which was published in the Analekta Vlatadon
series (1982).
Back in Rome, Fr.
Amato taught Christology in the School of Theology at the Pontifical Salesian
University, of which he was dean from 1981 to 1987 and 1994 to 1999. From 1997
to 2000 he was also vice rector of the university. In 1988 he was sent to
Washington for studies on the theology of religions and to complete the
Christology textbook. He was then appointed consultant to the Congregation for
the Doctrine of the Faith, the Pontifical Councils for Promoting Christian
Unity and for Interreligious Dialogue, and councilor of the Pontifical
International Marian Academy. In 1999 he was appointed prelate secretary of the
restructured Pontifical Academy of Theology and editor of the newly founded
theological magazine Path. From 1996 to 2000 he was a member of the
theological-historical commission for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000.
Appointed secretary
of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on December 19, 2002, and
elected to the titular See of Sila with the personal title of archbishop, he
received episcopal ordination on January 6, 2003, from Pope John Paul II in St.
Peter’s Basilica.
On July 9, 2008,
Benedict XVI called him to succeed Cardinal José Saraiva Martins as prefect of
the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and in the consistory of November 20,
2010, created him cardinal of the Diaconia of Santa Maria in Aquiro. He
participated in the conclave of March 2013 that elected Pope Francis. On December
19, 2013, Pope Francis confirmed him “donec aliter provideatur” as prefect of
the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, a post he left in 2018 shortly
before turning 80.
In November 2013,
Cardinal Amato closed the diocesan phase of the beatification and canonization
process of Bishop Tonino Bello in Molfetta Cathedral. “Freedom of thought and
action, appreciation of the laity, education for the young, the value of peace,
love for one’s neighbor, consideration for the poor,” said the cardinal, “were
the teachings” of Bishop Tonino, bishop of Molfetta from 1982 to 1986. His
testimony, Cardinal Amato emphasized, “tells us that holiness is not a
privilege of the few, but a vocation for all,” because we are all called “to
follow Jesus and the theological virtues: faith, hope and charity.”
The Bishop Domenico
Cornacchia of Molfetta, together with the entire diocese, remembers Cardinal
Amato “with profound gratitude” as “a man of faith and tireless pastor, who
served the universal Church and the people of God with great dedication.”
Source: Vatican News
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