Ottaviani, Alfredo

Born Alfredo Ottaviani on October 29, 1890 in Rome , was the youngest child in a baker's family. He graduated from the Pontifical Roman Seminary. March 18, 1916 consecrated a priest . Lecturer at the Pontifical College of Rome of St. Apollinaris and at the Pontifical Urban College of the Holy Congregation for the Propaganda of the Faith . In 1916 - 1922 - at the pastoral work in the Roman diocese . March 22, 1922 became the secret chamberlain of Pope Pius XI , who noticed a young priest and began to promote. From 1926 to 1928, Ottaviani was rector of the Pontifical Bohemian College. May 31, 1927 Pius XI makes Ottaviani the Prelate of the Court , which gives him the right to be called Monsignor . In 1928 - 1929, Secretary of the Holy Congregation for Extraordinary Church Affairs . In 1929 - 1930, the Deputy Secretary of State of the Holy See , first Cardinal Gasparri , then Cardinal Pacelli . He participated in the signing of the Lateran Agreements between the Holy See and Italy , as a result of which the Vatican State appeared. December 21, 1931 became the apostolic protonotarius . On December 19, 1935 he was appointed an expert of the Holy Chancellery ; he held this post until 1953 .

He was elevated to cardinal deacon (since he did not have an episcopal rank) by Pope Pius XII on the consistory of January 12, 1953 . Ottaviani received a red cap and the titular deaconess of Santa Maria in Domnica , on the same day he was appointed pro-secretary of the Holy Congregation of the Holy Office. At the end of the life of Pope Pius XII Ottaviani, together with Cardinals Giuseppe Pizzardo , Nicola Canali , Clemente Mikara and Adeodato Piazza , made up Pope’s inner circle, liberal prelates in the Curia christened this group the “Curious Pentagon”. At the 1958 Conclave, Ottaviani and other cardinals , determined to continue the conservative course of Pius XII , defended the candidacy of the Archbishop of Genoa , Cardinal Giuseppe Siri , but as a result Cardinal Roncalli was elected, who took the name John XXIII . It was John XXIII on November 7, 1959 who appointed Ottaviani the Secretary of the Holy Congregation of the Holy Office. On August 3, 1961, Alfredo Ottaviani became a cardinal protodeacon , that is, a senior cardinal deacon , whose functions included the announcement of the name of the new pontiff from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica after the election on the conclave , as well as the coronation of the new pope by the tiara .

On April 19, 1962, Cardinal Ottaviani, who had no episcopal ordination, was ordained bishop personally by Pope John XXIII in the Lateran Basilica; he was assisted by Cardinals Pizzardo and Mazella . Earlier, on April 5 , he was named the titular archbishop of Berrea.

Cardinal Ottaviani was the leader of the "integrists," that is, the conservatives in the Roman Catholic Church . A major theologian, he defended the inviolability of Roman Catholicism. But in 1962, John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council , which was to modernize the Catholic Church . Cardinal Ottaviani at the Council took a very tough stance, based precisely on the inviolability of the traditions of Catholicism . It was reasonably argued at the cathedral. However, the Council brought victory to the “Renovationists,” which made Cardinal Ottaviani once say: “I hope to die before the end of the council, for then I will die as a cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, and not as an official of the Protestant and pro-communist church.”

Ottaviani participated in the conclave of 1963 , at which Cardinal Montini , who took the name Paul VI , was elected pope . Ottaviani, as cardinal protodeacon, crowned the new pontiff. In 1966, the Holy Chancellery changed its name to the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith , the first prefect of which was Ottaviani. In 1968, he left his post. In 1967 , Ottaviani became a cardinal priest with the preservation of his title, which he had as a cardinal deacon .

In September 1969 , together with Cardinal Antonio Bacci , he wrote a letter to Pope Paul VI , in which they submitted their objections to the new rite of the Roman Mass , which was to be completed and introduced in return for the Council of Trent. This letter received a great response, but did not succeed.

Ottaviani until the end of his life remained the spiritual leader of the conservatives. In 1971, he lost the right to participate in the Conclaves . Toward the end of her life, Cardinal Ottaviani became blind, but continued to be very active.

Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani died on August 3, 1979 in the Vatican and was buried in the chapel of the church of St. Salvator.

• Cardinal Ottaviani was already almost blind by the beginning of the Second Vatican Council, and he knew all his speeches at the council by heart.
• His episcopal motto was: Semper Idem ("Always The Same"), which was reflected in his conservative theology.

• The message of Cardinals Ottaviani and Bacci, accompanying the pamphlet “A brief critical review of the new rite of the Mass” and sent to Pope Paul VI
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