Last April 2, Cardinal Caffarra concelebrated with Pope Francis at Carpi, Italy and exchanged warmly with him the sign of the peace of Christ during the Mass – a gesture of rapprochement between the Pope and the Cardinal, which was much noted after the misunderstandings and the dubia over the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia.
Born on June 1, 1938 at Samboseto di Busseto, in the province of Parma, he was ordained a priest on July 2, 1961 at Samboseto. He pursued his studies in Rome at the Pontifical Lombard Seminary, then he obtained a doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Gregorian University and a diploma of specialization in Moral Theology from the Alphonsus Academy.
On returning to his diocese, he was a teacher of Moral Theology in several Faculties and Universities. He met with the Founder of Communion and Liberation, Monsignor Luigi Giussani – a fundamental encounter for his life, specifies the biography published by the Holy See.
In the 70s, during the debates around the encyclical Humanae Vitae, he began to reflect further on the subject of marriage and of family and human procreation. He taught medical ethics at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome and, in August of 1974, Pope Paul VI appointed him member of the International Theological Commission.
He pursued further theological, anthropological and ethical reflection on the subject of human procreation and, as representative of the Holy See, he took part in the World Congress on Human Infertility and Artificial Procreation in September of 1978 in Venice.
In 1980 Pope John Paul II appointed him expert of the Synod of Bishops on Marriage and the Family and, in January of 1981, he entrusted him with the mandate to found and preside over the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family, where he taught the ethics of procreation and directed seminars on general ethics and bioethics.
In 1983 he became a consultant at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and member of the Commission of Studies for Genetic Engineering at the Italian Ministry of Health. At the same time, he taught in several foreign Universities.
On September 8, 1995, he was appointed Archbishop of Ferrara-Comacchio. Then, on December 16, 2003, Pope John Paul II appointed him Metropolitan Archbishop of Bologna, where he stayed until his renunciation on October 27, 2015. He was President of the Episcopal Conference of Emilia-Romagna and Moderator of the Flaminio tribunal for marital causes. He took part in the 3rd Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization (October 2014) and in the 14th Ordinary General Assembly on the topic Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and in the Contemporary World (October 2015).
He is author of books on fundamental moral theology and numerous articles, translated into the principal languages, and he directed the annotated editions of all Pope John Paul II’s catechesis dedicated to human love and – in collaboration with the University of Navarre – the Enchiridion Familiae in five volumes.
Pope Benedict XVI created him Cardinal during the Consistory of March 24, 2006.
After his death, the College of Cardinals has 221 Cardinals, of which 120 are Electors, namely, younger than 80, and 101 Non-Electors.
Having received the news of Cardinal Caffarra's death, the Holy Father, Pope Francis has sent a telegram of condolence to His Excellency, Matteo Maria Zuppi, the current Archbishop of Bologna.
Telegram of His Holiness, Pope Francis
for the death of Cardinal Carlo Caffarra
To His Excellency, the Most Reverend
Matteo Maria ZUPPI
Archbishop of Bologna
Via Altabella, 6
40126 Bologna
I have learned with sadness the news of the death of Cardinal Carlo Caffarra. I wish to express to you, to the entire Diocesan community of Bologna and to the family of this accomplished churchman my sincere sharing in your sadness. I think with affection of this dear brother in the Episcopate, who joyfully served the Gospel and intensely loved the Church, and I remember with gratitude the generous pastoral work that he carried out first as a founder and teacher at the John Paul II Pontifical Institute for Studies in Marriage and Family, as a zealous pastor of the Archdiocese of Ferrara-Comacchio and then as a wise and caring guide for that same Archdiocese. I raise fervent prayers to the Lord that, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of Saint Petronus, He may welcome His faithful servant and learned Pastor into the heavenly Jerusalem. With all my heart, I impart my Apostolic Blessing to you, to the beloved Church of Bologna and to all those who have known him and held him in great esteem.
Franciscus
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