Longtime Vatican Secretary of State and Cardinal Sodano passed away

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, who died at the age of 94, served under Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI. as Secretary of State. He was thus number two in the Papal States.

DLongtime Vatican Secretary of State and Cardinal Angelo Sodano has died at the age of 94. The Holy See confirmed this on Saturday. The northern Italian was among the popes from 1991 to 2006 John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Secretary of State and thus chief diplomat of the Vatican. The post is considered number two in the Papal States – in the last few months before the death of a weakened John Paul II, Sodano was one of the curial men who effectively ran the Catholic Church.

Until the end of 2019 and for more than 14 years, Sodano also served as dean of the College of Cardinals, the second-highest office in the Union Catholic Church inside Born on November 23, 1927 in Isola d’Asti in the Piedmont region, the churchman was papal envoy to South America for a long time before his career in Rome.

Pope Francis described Sodano in a letter on Saturday, among other things, as a “respected man of the church” and “lovable priest”. He is grateful “for the gift of this esteemed man of the Church, who lived his priesthood with generosity,” wrote Francis. Sodano died on Friday evening after having to be taken to a hospital in early May following a corona infection.