During the Vacant See of 2005, the purpurate served as Camerlengo. His funeral will be held in the coming days in Spain.
Rome – Italy (August 10, 2021 9:20 PM Gaudium Press) Spanish Cardinal Eduardo Martínez Somalo, emeritus of the Dicastery for Consecrated Life, died on Tuesday morning, August 10, at the age of 94. The Cardinal was at his residence in the Vatican. The funeral will be held in the coming days in Spain.
Studies and priestly ordination
Eduardo Martínez Somalo began his ministry by being sent to Spain, where he perfected his studies at the Spanish Pontifical College and the Pontifical Gregorian University, where he graduated in Theology and Canon Law.
His priestly ordination took place in 1950. In Rome, he attended courses at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, the school for future diplomats of the Holy See. His first appointment to the Secretariat of State took place in August 1956, when he became responsible for the Spanish section.
Apostolic Nuncio in Colombia
In April 1970 he was appointed counsellor to the Apostolic Delegation in Great Britain, after 14 years in the Vatican. However, he was called back to the Eternal City six months later, taking on the position of advisor and then direct collaborator of Archbishop Giovanni Benelli.
After five more years of service in St. Peter’s Basilica, he was named Archbishop by Pope Paul VI and sent as apostolic nuncio to Colombia. Four years later he returned to the Vatican.
Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
In May 1979 he was named by Pope John Paul II as substitute of the Secretariat of State, a position he held until 1988. That same year he was named Cardinal and Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, a post he held until 1992. In 2004 he became prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. During the Vacant See of 2005, he held the office of Camerlengo. (EPC)
Compiled by Zephania Gangl
