Holy Office/Congregation of The Doctrine of The Faith
On 12 January 1953, he was both appointed Pro-Secretary of the Holy Office and created Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria in Domnica by Pope Pius XII.
On 7 November 1959, he was named the Vatican's chief doctrinal guardian as Secretary of the Holy Office. Cardinal Ottaviani was appointed Titular Archbishop of Berrhoea on 5 April 1962, receiving his episcopal consecration on the following 19 April from Pope John XXIII himself, with Cardinals Giuseppe Pizzardo and Benedetto Aloisi Masella serving as co-consecrators. (His episcopal motto was Semper idem ("Always the same"), which reflected his conservative theology.) He later resigned his titular see in 1963.
He was the leader of the curial conservatives during the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) and worked with, amongst others, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, CSSp. During the last of the Council's preparatory sessions, Cardinal Ottaviani engaged in a heated debate with Cardinal Augustin Bea over the subject of religious liberty. Ottaviani, while opposed to the separation of Church and State and granting equal rights to all religions, supported religious tolerance—suppressing public manifestations of non-Catholic religions when possible. Their confrontation became so intense that Cardinal Ernesto Ruffini had to intervene, noting his disappointment at such a "serious discussion". Ottaviani also argued during the debates on the liturgy and on the sources of Divine Revelation, which are understood as Scripture and Tradition in Catholic theology.
He was opposed in his movements for a rapid Council by German Cardinal Frings. Frings was advised by then Fr. Joseph Ratzinger, who would later become prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and then Pope Benedict XVI.
Cardinal Ottaviani was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 1963 papal conclave, which selected Giovanni Battista Montini as Pope Paul VI. He was also the Protodeacon (senior Cardinal-Deacon) during the conclave, and as such, he had the honour of announcing Montini's election and crowning him on 30 June with the triregnum.
Upon the changing of the name of the Holy Office to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1965, Ottaviani was named Pro-Prefect of the congregation; the pope held the title of "Prefect" until 1968. He was raised to the rank of Cardinal-Priest (with the same title) on 26 June 1967, and he resigned as Pro-Prefect on 6 January 1968.
Ottaviani was nearly blind throughout the entire course of the Second Vatican Council and afterwards. He died on August 3, 1979.
Read more about this topic: Alfredo Ottaviani
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