12 Facts About Luigi Bettazzi

Luigi Bettazzi was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who was bishop of Ivrea from 1966 to 1999.

Luigi Bettazzi entered the minor seminary before he was ten years old and then studied philosophy and theology at the Gregorian University in Rome before earning a degree in philosophy at the University of Bologna.

Luigi Bettazzi was ordained a priest on 4 August 1946 by Giovanni Cardinal Nasalli Rocca di Corneliano of Bologna.

Luigi Bettazzi became vicar general of the Archdiocese of Bologna on 1 September 1963 and received his episcopal consecration on 4 October 1963 from Giacomo Cardinal Lercaro of Bologna, who was one of the four bishops who served as moderators of the Second Vatican Council.

Luigi Bettazzi was the most recently created bishop of the Catholic Church and one of the youngest bishops when, on 11 October 1963, he spoke at the second session of the Second Vatican Council on the subject of collegiality.

Luigi Bettazzi nevertheless lived in the bishop's residence in Ivrea but never wore the ring Pope Paul VI gave to each Council participant, calling it "ostentatious".

Luigi Bettazzi was president of the Italian branch of Pax Christi from 1968 to 1975 and served as president of Pax Christi International from 1978 to 1985, accepting for the organization at the end of his term UNESCO's Peace Education prize.

Luigi Bettazzi retired from his position in Ivrea upon the appointment of his successor on 20 February 1999.

Luigi Bettazzi was made an honorary citizen of Bologna in 2016.

Luigi Bettazzi was the last living of the original signatories to the signed Pact of the Catacombs.

Luigi Bettazzi was the last surviving Italian bishop who participated in the Second Vatican Council.

Luigi Bettazzi died in Albiano d'Ivrea on 16 July 2023, at age 99.