His Eminence Giovanni Lajolo | |
|---|---|
| President Emeritus of the Governorate of Vatican City State | |
 Portrait of Lajolo | |
| Appointed | 15 September 2006 |
| Term ended | 1 October 2011 |
| Predecessor | Edmund Szoka |
| Successor | Giuseppe Bertello |
| Other post | Cardinal-Priest of S. Maria Liberatrice a Monte Testaccio "pro hac vice" |
| Previous posts |
|
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 29 April 1960 by Ugo Poletti |
| Consecration | 6 January 1989 by Pope John Paul II |
| Created cardinal | 24 November 2007 byPope Benedict XVI |
| Rank | Cardinal-Deacon (2007–18) Cardinal-Priest (from 2018) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Giovanni Lajolo (1935-01-03)3 January 1935 (age 90) |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Alma mater | |
| Coat of arms |  |
| Styles of Giovanni Lajolo | |
|---|---|
| |
| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | Caesariana |
Giovanni Lajolo (born 3 January 1935) is an Italiancardinal and formerpresident of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and president of the Governorate ofVatican City State.
Giovanni Lajolo was born on 3 January 1935 inNovara, Italy. He studied at theSeminary ofNovara, thePontifical Roman Seminary, and thePontifical Gregorian University where he earned alicentiate in philosophy in 1955 and alicentiate intheology in 1959. He was ordained a priest on 29 April 1960.[1] He entered theUniversity of Munich where he studied for a doctorate incanon law which he was awarded in 1965. Then, in 1965, he entered the elitePontifical Ecclesiastical Academy to study diplomacy, leaving in 1968.
He entered the service of the Secretariat of State in 1970. He worked in thenunciature inGermany, collaborating withCorrado 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 counsellor of nunciature on 1 January 1983. He closely followed the negotiations that led to the signing, in 1984, of the revision of theconcordat betweenItaly andHoly See.
On 3 October 1988, Lajolo was appointedSecretary of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See andTitular Archbishop ofCaesariana[2] byPope John Paul II. He received hisepiscopal consecration on 6 January 1989 from John Paul, with archbishopsEdward Idris Cassidy andJosé Tomás Sánchez serving asco-consecrators, inSt. Peter's Basilica. Lajolo was namedNuncio to Germany on 7 December 1995, andSecretary for Relations with States on 7 October 2003. As Secretary, he served as theforeign minister of theVatican.
He served as theSecretary for Relations with States in theSecretariat of State, orforeign minister of theHoly See, from 2003 until he was appointed president in 2006.[1] He speaks Italian, German, English and French.
At a 2004 conference 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, 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 that "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." 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 Lajolo was awarded Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of Merit of the Italian Republic.[4]
On 22 June 2006, Lajolo was appointedPresident of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and of the Governorate ofVatican City State byPope Benedict XVI. In virtue of these two posts, he is delegatedlegislative andexecutive authority over the Vatican City by the pope. He was madeCardinal-Deacon ofSanta Maria Liberatrice a Monte Testaccio in theconsistory of 24 November 2007.[5]
He submitted his resignation to Pope Benedict when he turned 75 in January 2010. His resignation was accepted on 3 September 2011, with ArchbishopGiuseppe Bertello appointed as his successor as of 1 October 2011.
He was one of thecardinal electors who participated in the2013 papal conclave that electedPope Francis.
He was made a member of theCongregation for Bishops,Pontifical Council for Culture, andAdministration 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 a member of theApostolic Signatura, the Church's highest court.[7] He remained as a member of these bodies until his 80th birthday in 2015.
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Apostolic Nuncio to Germany 7 December 1995 – 7 October 2003 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Secretary for Relations with States 7 October 2003 – 15 September 2006 | Succeeded by |
| Catholic Church titles | ||
| Preceded by | — TITULAR — Titular Archbishop of Cæsariana 3 October 1988 – 24 November 2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See 3 October 1988 – 7 December 1995 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of the Interdicasterial Commission for the Church in Eastern Europe 8 June 2004 – 15 September 2006 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the Governatorate of Vatican City State 15 September 2006 – 1 October 2011 | Succeeded by |
| President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State 15 September 2006 – 1 October 2011 | ||
| Preceded by | Cardinal-Deacon ofSanta Maria Liberatrice a Monte Testaccio 24 November 2007 – 19 May 2018 | Himself as Cardinal-Priest |
| Himself as Cardinal-Deacon | Cardinal-Priest 'pro hac vice' of Santa Maria Liberatrice a Monte Testaccio 19 May 2018 – | Incumbent |
