Giuseppe Pizzardo

His Eminence Giuseppe Pizzardo
Prefect of the Congregation of Seminaries and Universities
Appointed	14 March 1939
Term ended	13 January 1968
Predecessor	Gaetano Bisleti
Successor	Gabriel-Marie Garrone
Other post(s)	Cardinal-Bishop of Albano
Orders
Ordination	19 September 1903
Consecration	27 April 1930 byEugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli
Created cardinal	13 December 1937
Rank	Cardinal-bishop
Personal details
Born	(1877-07-13)13 July 1877 Savona,Italy
Died	1 August 1970(1970-08-01)(aged 93)
Nationality	Italian
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Previous post(s)	Secretary of the Roman Curia(1929–1930) Titular Archbishop of Cyrrhus (1930) President of the Roman Curia (1930–1939) Titular Archbishop of Nicaea (1930–1937) Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria in Via Lata(1937–1948) Secretary of the Congregation of the Holy Office(1951–1959)

Styles of Giuseppe Pizzardo
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Albano(suburbicarian)

Giuseppe Pizzardo(13 July 1877 – 1 August 1970) was anItaliancardinalof theCatholic Churchwho served as prefect of theCongregation for Seminaries and Universitiesfrom 1939 to 1968, and secretary of theHoly Officefrom 1951 to 1959. Pizzardo was elevated to the cardinalate in 1937.

Biography

Born inSavona,Pizzardo studied at thePontifical Gregorian University,Pontifical Roman Athenaeum Saint Apollinare,and thePontifical Ecclesiastical Academybefore beingordainedaprieston 19 September 1903.

From 1908 to 1909, he didpastoralwork in Rome and served in theVatican Secretariat of State.Pizzardo was raised to the rank ofmonsignor,and appointed secretary of thenunciaturetoBavaria,on 7 June 1909. In theCongregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs,he was appointed: undersecretary (1920), substitute (1921), and secretary (1929). He became anapostolic protonotaryon 11 January 1927.

The signing of theReichskonkordaton 20 July 1933 in Rome. From left to right: MonsignorLudwig Kaas,German Vice-ChancellorFranz von Papen,Archbishop Pizzardo,Cardinal Secretary of StateEugenio Pacelli,Alfredo Ottaviani,and Reich MinisterRudolf Buttmann.

Pope Pius XIappointed himTitular Archbishopof Cyrrhus on 28 March 1930, and on the following 22 April, Titular Archbishop of Nicaea. Pizzardo received hisepiscopal consecrationon 27 April of that same year fromEugenio Cardinal Pacelli,with Archbishop Giuseppe Palica andFrancesco Marchetti-Selvaggianiserving asco-consecrators.

He was named president of thePontifical Commission for Russiaon 21 December 1934, and anassistant at the papal throneon 19 January 1936. He was createdCardinal-PriestofSanta Maria in Via Lataby Pius XI in theconsistoryof 13 December 1937. Pizzardo was prefect of theCongregation for Seminaries and Universitiesfrom 14 March 1939 until his resignation on 13 January 1968.

He was named secretary of theHoly Office(the equivalent of what is now called prefect of theCongregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) on 16 February 1951 byPope Pius XII,for whom he had worked many years in the Secretariat of State. He resigned on 12 October 1959. He wasCardinal-Bishop of Albanofrom 21 June 1948. He attended theSecond Vatican Council.

He was known as an early patron and mentor ofGiovanni Battista Montini,the future Pope Paul VI, who is said to have voted for Pizzardo at the1963 papal conclave.Though they became more distant as Montini rose in power, Pope Paul's final trip away from hissummer residencebefore his death in August 1978 was to a memorialMasson the anniversary of Pizzardo's death.

Pizzardo was considered to be a highlyconservativeclergyman. He opposed the Frenchworker-priest movement,and Catholic participation in the Protestant Cold War group,Moral Re-Armament.

Other roles

He was also involved inAzione Cattolica,serving on its Central Committee as ecclesiastical assistant in 1923 and president in 1938.

Appointed sub-dean of the College of Cardinals on 29 March 1965, Cardinal Pizzardo was one of the cardinal electors in theconclavesof1939,1958,and1963.