Alfredo Ottaviani - Holy Office/Congregation of The Doctrine of The Faith

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

Famous quotes containing the words holy, office, congregation, doctrine and/or faith:

    America how can I write a holy litany in your silly mood?
    Allen Ginsberg (b. 1926)

    Just across the Green from the post office is the county jail, seldom occupied except by some backwoodsman who has been intemperate; the courthouse is under the same roof. The dog warden usually basks in the sunlight near the harness store or the post office, his golden badge polished bright.
    —Administration for the State of Con, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)

    Passing through here in 1795, Bishop Asbury commented, ‘The country improves in cultivation, wickedness, mills, and stills.’ Five years later, he held a meeting in the neighborhood and remarked that he thought most of the congregation had come to look at his wig.
    —Administration in the State of Sout, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)

    It is a doctrine alike of the oldest and of the newest philosophy, that man is one, and that you cannot injure any member, without a sympathetic injury to all the members.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    I am a Christian according to my conscience in belief, ... in purpose and wish;Mnot of course by the orthodox standard. But I am content, and have a feeling of trust and safety.
    The Machiavellian mind and the merchant mind are at one in their simple faith in the power of segmental division to rule all—in the dichotomy of power and morals and of money and morals.
    Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980)