Salvatore Cardinal Pappalardo

archbishop bishop cardinal Diplomat priest

September 23, 1941 (age 65)

Villafranca, Sicula, Sicily, Ordained priest Roman Catholic Church,

He was the first senior clergyman from Sicily to speak out against the Mafia, breaking its code of omertà (vow of silence). He should not be confused with the still-living current Archbishop of Siracusa, Italy of the same first and last name, who is not a Cardinal but is, like this one, a metropolitan archbishop of an ecclesiastical province. He was ordained as a priest in Rome on 12 April 1941, and was a Counsellor of the Vatican Secretariat of State from 1947 to 1965, receiving in 1951 the title of Privy Chamberlain to Pope John XXIII, and in 1961 that of Domestic Prelate. He was appointed titular Archbishop of Miletus on 7 December 1965, and served as Apostolic Pro-Nuncio in Indonesia from 1965 to 1969. He was President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome from 1969 to 1970. He succeeded Cardinal Francesco Carpino as Archbishop of Palermo on 17 October 1970. He was proclaimed Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria Odigitria dei Siciliani by Pope Paul VI on 5 March 1973. He was considered papabile in the conclave in October 1978, after the death of Pope John Paul I: a cover story of Time magazine said that he could become the first Sicilian pope in 12 centuries. Pappalardo spoke out against the Mafia from the 1980s. He became more explicit in the early 1990s, after other anti-Mafia lawyers, policemen and priests had been murdered. He later apologised, having meant the word synagogue in its "old sense, as a gathering place". In 1993, at the funeral of murdered priest Pino Puglisi, he called for the people of Sicily to rise up against the Mafia. He retired on 4 April 1996, succeeded by Salvatore De Giorgi.

Salvatore Cardinal Pappalardo

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Background

Pappalardo, Salvatore Cardinal was born on September 23, 1918 in Villafranca, Sicula, Sicily, Ordained priest Roman Catholic Church, 1941.

Career

He was the first senior clergyman from Sicily to speak out against the Mafia, breaking its code of omertà (vow of silence). He should not be confused with the still-living current Archbishop of Siracusa, Italy of the same first and last name, who is not a Cardinal but is, like this one, a metropolitan archbishop of an ecclesiastical province. He was ordained as a priest in Rome on 12 April 1941, and was a Counsellor of the Vatican Secretariat of State from 1947 to 1965, receiving in 1951 the title of Privy Chamberlain to Pope John XXIII, and in 1961 that of Domestic Prelate.

He was appointed titular Archbishop of Miletus on 7 December 1965, and served as Apostolic Pro-Nuncio in Indonesia from 1965 to 1969.

He was President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome from 1969 to 1970. He succeeded Cardinal Francesco Carpino as Archbishop of Palermo on 17 October 1970.

He was proclaimed Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria Odigitria dei Siciliani by Pope Paul VI on 5 March 1973. He was considered papabile in the conclave in October 1978, after the death of Pope John Paul I: a cover story of Time magazine said that he could become the first Sicilian pope in 12 centuries.

Pappalardo spoke out against the Mafia from the 1980s.

He became more explicit in the early 1990s, after other anti-Mafia lawyers, policemen and priests had been murdered. He later apologised, having meant the word synagogue in its "old sense, as a gathering place". In 1993, at the funeral of murdered priest Pino Puglisi, he called for the people of Sicily to rise up against the Mafia.

He retired on 4 April 1996, succeeded by Salvatore De Giorgi.

Achievements

Salvatore Cardinal Pappalardo has been listed as a noteworthy archbishop by Marquis Who's Who.

Membership

Member Congregation of Oriental Churches, Congregation of Clergy.

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Salvatore Cardinal Pappalardo

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