Pope appoints well known pro-lifer to key Archdiocese in Italy

Vatican City, Dec 15, 2003 / 22:00 pm

Pope John Paul II designated Archbishop Carlo Caffara, a well-known pro-life theologian, to replace Cardinal Giacomo Biffi as Archbishop of the northern Italian diocese of Bologna.

The Archbishop-designate was born in Busseto on June 1st 1938; and was ordained priest on July 2nd, 1961. He obtained a doctorate in Cannon Law from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and a doctorate in Moral Theology at the Pontifical Academy Alphonsianum, also in Rome.

He became a professor of Moral theology at the seminaries of Fidenza, Parma, Bologna, and later, at the Catholic University of Milan.

In his many articles, essays and books, he focuses in the moral theology of marriage, bioethics and human procreation. Thus, he became professor of Medical ethics at the Medical School of Catholic University of “Sacro Cuore” in Rome.

In 1974 Pope Paul VI appointed him a member of the International Theological Commission and later he became a consultant for the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith.

During the 70’s the Italian government appointed him member of a Commission to study the moral aspects of genetic engineering.

In 1980, Pope John Paul II appointed him the first President of the Pontifical Institute “John Paul II for the Study of Marriage and Family.”

During his tenure, the Archbishop-designate developed the “Theology of the Body” of Pope John Paul, and founded branches of the institute in the US, Spain and Mexico.

On September 8, 1995, the Holy Father appointed him Archbishop of Ferrara-Comacchio.

He remains a member of the Presidency of both the Pontifical Council for the Family and the Pontifical Academy for Life.

As Archbishop of Bologna, Carlo Caffara will probably become a Cardinal, as did all his recent predecessors.