| Giovanni Lajolo | |
|---|---|
| President of the Governorate of the Vatican | |
| In office 15 September 2006 – 1 October 2011 |
|
| Monarch | Benedict XVI |
| Preceded by | Edmund Szoka |
| Succeeded by | Giuseppe Bertello |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 January 1935 Novara, Italy |
| Alma mater | Pontifical Roman Seminary Pontifical Gregorian University University of Munich Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
| Styles of Giovanni Lajolo |
|
|---|---|
| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | Caesariana |
Giovanni Lajolo (born 3 January 1935 in Novara, Italy) is the Cardinal emeritus President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and emeritus President of the Governorate of Vatican City State.
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He studied at the Seminary of Novara, the Pontifical Roman Seminary, and the Pontifical Gregorian University where he earned a licentiate in philosophy in 1955 and a licentiate in theology in 1959. He was ordained a priest on 29 April 1960.[1] He entered the University of Munich where he studied for a doctorate in canon law which he was awarded in 1965. Then in 1965 he entered the elite Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy to study diplomacy, leaving in 1968.
He entered the service of the Secretariat of State in 1970. He worked in the nunciature in Germany collaborating with Corrado Bafile, future cardinal, from 1970 to November 1974. He was a staff member of the Council for Public Affairs of the Church from November 1974. He was named counselor of nunciature on 1 January 1983. He closely followed the negotiations that led to the signing, in 1984, of the revision of the concordat between Italy and Holy See.
On 3 October 1988, Lajolo was appointed Secretary of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See and Titular Archbishop of Caesariana[2] by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on 6 January 1989 from John Paul himself, with archbishops Edward Idris Cassidy and José Tomás Sánchez serving as co-consecrators, in St. Peter's Basilica. Lajolo was later named Nuncio to Germany on 7 December 1995, and Secretary for Relations with States on 7 October 2003. As Secretary, he served as the foreign minister of the Vatican.
He served as the Secretary for Relations with States in the Secretariat of State, or foreign minister of the Holy See, from 2003 until his appointment as President in 2006.[1] He speaks Italian, German, English and French.
On 22 June 2006, Lajolo was appointed President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and of the Governorate of Vatican City State by Pope Benedict XVI. In virtue of these two posts, he is delegated legislative and executive authority over the Vatican City by the pope. He was appointed Cardinal-Deacon of S. Maria Liberatrice a Monte Testaccio in the consistory of 24 November 2007.[3]
As required by canon law he submitted his resignation to Pope Benedict having reached his 75th year in January 2010. His resignation was accepted on 3 September 2011, with Archbishop Giuseppe Bertello appointed as his successor starting on 1 October 2011.
He was granted membership in the Congregation for Bishops, Pontifical Council for Culture, and Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (of which he had once been Secretary) on 12 June 2008.[4] On 25 January 2010 he was appointed as a member of the Apostolic Signatura, the Church's highest court.[5] He will remain on as a member of these bodies until his 80th birthday.
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Lajos Kada |
Apostolic Nuncio to Germany 1995–2003 |
Succeeded by Erwin Ender |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Jean-Louis Tauran |
Secretary for Relations with States 2003–2006 |
Succeeded by Dominique Mamberti |
| Preceded by Edmund Szoka |
President of the Governorate of the Vatican 2006–2011 |
Succeeded by Giuseppe Bertello |
| President of the Pontifical Commission of the Vatican 2006–2011 |
||