Vatican City, May 28, 2022 / 04:15 am
Cardinal Angelo Sodano, former Vatican diplomat and retired secretary of state, died on Friday at the age of 94.
The ex-dean of the College of Cardinals had contracted pneumonia after becoming ill with COVID-19; He had been hospitalized since May 9 at Rome’s Columbus Hospital. His funeral will be held in St. Peter’s Basilica on May 31.
In a May 28 statement, Pope Francis said that the death of Cardinal Sodano “stirs in my soul feelings of gratitude to the Lord for the gift of this esteemed man of the Church, who lived with generosity his priesthood first in the Diocese of Asti and then, for the rest of his long existence, in the service of the Holy See.”
Cardinal Sodano retired as secretary of state in 2006, after leading the powerful curial office for 15 years under both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.