25 Facts About Anastasio Ballestrero

Anastasio Alberto Ballestrero, religious name Anastasio del Santissimo Rosario, was an Italian cardinal and member of the Discalced Carmelites who served as the Archbishop of Turin from 1977 until his resignation in 1989.

Anastasio Ballestrero likewise was known for being reserved when it came to the Shroud of Turin as opposed to the enthusiasm of John Paul II for the relic.

Alberto Anastasio Ballestrero was born in Genoa on 3 October 1913 as the first of five children born to Giacomo Anastasio Ballestrero and Antonietta Daffunchio.

Anastasio Ballestrero was baptized on 2 November 1913 in the Santa Zita parish with the name "Alberto".

Anastasio Ballestrero's father worked in a Genoese port while his mother oversaw her children's religious formation.

Anastasio Ballestrero's mother died in 1923 after the birth of her final child in late 1922.

Anastasio Ballestrero attended a school in Genoa from 1919 to 1922.

Anastasio Ballestrero was enrolled at the Collegio Belimbau in 1922 before he received his confirmation in the San Martino di Albaro church on 3 May 1923; he made his First Communion the next month on 21 June.

Anastasio Ballestrero left the Collegio Belimbau in 1923 in order to pursue ecclesial studies to become a priest.

Anastasio Ballestrero made his first vows on 17 October 1929 and was later sent to the Genoese convent of Santa Anna in September 1932 for his philosophical and theological studies.

Anastasio Ballestrero received the subdiaconate and then the diaconate in 1935 before he received his solemn ordination to the priesthood in the San Lorenzo Cathedral on 6 June 1936 but required a special dispensation for it due to the age requirement.

Anastasio Ballestrero began teaching philosophical studies at the "studentato" of Genoa-S.

Anastasio Ballestrero was prior of the Santa Anna convent from 22 April 1945 to 1948 and was again elected as prior on 7 May 1954 after becoming the provincial for the Ligurian province of the order on 3 April 1948.

Anastasio Ballestrero visited all 350 Carmelite convents and 850 Carmelite monasteries in the world except in Hungary which refused him entrance into the nation.

Anastasio Ballestrero once served as President of the Union of Superior Generals.

Anastasio Ballestrero received his episcopal consecration on in the Santa Teresa church 2 February 1974 in Rome from Cardinal Sebastiano Baggio with Bishops Michele Mincuzzi and Enrico Romolo Compagnone serving as the co-consecrators.

Anastasio Ballestrero was later being elected as the Vice-President for the Italian Episcopal Conference on 25 May 1978 and then served as its President from 18 May 1979 to 3 July 1985.

Anastasio Ballestrero resigned as the Archbishop of Turin on 31 January 1989 and retired to the Santa Croce convent in La Spezia ; he lost the right to vote in a papal conclave on 3 October 1993 after he turned 80.

Anastasio Ballestrero attended the various episcopal gatherings that the pope called and he was appointed as a special papal representative to the inaugural ceremonies of the Theresian Year that commemorated the fourth centennial of the death of Teresa of Avila which was from 14 October until 15 October 1981 in both Alba de Tormes and Avila.

Anastasio Ballestrero was a noted theologian and was the author of a range of books of mediations and on John of the Cross.

Anastasio Ballestrero became known for his progressive beliefs and he rejected some of the popular Catholic movements such as Communion and Liberation.

Anastasio Ballestrero died at his residence in La Spezia at 3:00pm on 21 June 1998 due to a long illness.

Anastasio Ballestrero is buried in the San Giuseppe del Deserto church attached to the same Carmelite convent in Varazze that he had entered in 1924.

Anastasio Ballestrero placed the Shroud of Turin - in 1978 - on exhibit for the first time in four decades.

Anastasio Ballestrero agreed to scientific testing being performed on the Shroud of Turin in October 1978 but refused to permit radiocarbon dating testing as it required removing samples from the shroud itself.