1. Angelo Sodano was the Dean of the College of Cardinals from 2005 to 2019 and Cardinal Secretary of State from 1991 to 2006; Sodano was the first person since 1828 to serve simultaneously as Dean and Secretary of State.
18 Facts About Angelo Sodano
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Angelo Sodano had served in the diplomatic corps of the Holy See since 1959, including a decade as nuncio to Chile from 1978 to 1988.
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The second of six children, Angelo Sodano was born on 23 November 1927 in Isola d'Asti, Piedmont, to Giovanni and Delfina Angelo Sodano.
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Angelo Sodano's father was a Christian Democrat deputy in the Italian Parliament for three terms from 1948 until 1963.
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Angelo Sodano studied in Rome, obtaining a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University and a doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical Lateran University.
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On 30 November 1977, Angelo Sodano, who spoke English, German, Spanish, French, and Italian, was appointed titular archbishop of Nova Caesaris and apostolic nuncio to Chile, one of the countries where he had served as nunciature secretary.
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Angelo Sodano was consecrated in his native Asti by Cardinal Antonio Samore on 15 January 1978.
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In 1987, when Pope John Paul II visited Chile, Angelo Sodano arranged for him to meet in the nunciature the leaders of the opposition to the Pinochet government.
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On 29 June 1991, Angelo Sodano became Cardinal Secretary of State, succeeding Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, who had retired on 1 December 1990.
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Angelo Sodano retained his relationship to the church of Santa Maria Nuova no longer as titular but in commendam, that is, in trust or his custody.
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On 27 December 1998, Angelo Sodano wrote, at the request of the democratic government of Chile, an official letter to the British Prime Minister Tony Blair stating that "the Chilean Government considers it an offense to its territorial sovereignty as a nation the fact of being deprived of the power to judge its citizens" through the detention of Pinochet in Britain.
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Angelo Sodano participated as an elector in the 2005 papal conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI.
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Angelo Sodano was not generally considered a likely candidate himself, though he reportedly received a few votes.
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At the papal inauguration, Angelo Sodano presented Pope Benedict XVI with the Ring of the Fisherman, and he was one of those who made the public profession of obedience to the new pope.
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On 18 September 2012, Angelo Sodano was named by Pope Benedict as one of the Synod Fathers of the 13th Ordinary General Assembly of the Catholic Synod of Bishops.
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Angelo Sodano was not eligible to participate in the conclave, which elected Pope Francis.
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Angelo Sodano was accused of seeking a deal to bury documents detailing abuse.
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Angelo Sodano died of complications from COVID-19 and pneumonia on 27 May 2022, at the age of 94.