Rosalio José Castillo Lara Explained

Type:Cardinal
Honorific-Prefix:His Eminence
Rosalio José Castillo Lara
Honorific-Suffix:SDB
President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State
Coat Of Arms:Blasón de Rosalio José Cardenal Castillo Lara.svg
Motto:Misericordia et veritas
Church:Roman Catholic Church
Predecessor:Sebastiano Baggio
Successor:Edmund Casimir Szoka
Other Post:Cardinal-Priest of Nostra Signora di Coromoto in San Giovanni di Dio "pro hac vice" (1996–2007)
Appointed:31 October 1990
Term End:14 October 1997
Ordination:4 September 1949
Ordained By:Lucas Guillermo Castillo Hernández
Consecration:24 May 1973
Consecrated By:José Humberto Quintero Parra
Cardinal:24 May 1985
Created Cardinal By:Pope John Paul II
Rank:Cardinal-Deacon (1985–96)
Cardinal-Priest (1996–2007)
Birth Name:Rosalio José Castillo Lara
Birth Date:1922 9, df=yes
Birth Place:San Casimiro, Aragua State, Venezuela
Death Place:Centro Médico de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela
Parents:Rosalio Castillo Hernández
Guillermina Lara Peña

Rosalio José Castillo Lara (4 September 1922 – 16 October 2007) was a Venezuelan prelate of the Catholic Church. He worked in the Roman Curia for almost all of his career, first with responsibility for rewriting the code of canon law and then in administrative positions in the government of the Holy See. He was made a cardinal in 1985.

Biography

Castillo Lara was born in San Casimiro, diocese of Maracay, in Venezuela's Aragua State, on 4 September 1922. Third son of seven children, he was ordained a priest on 4 September 1949, by his uncle, Archbishop Castillo Hernandez of Caracas.

In 1950 he went to study canon law at the Salesian Pontifical University in Turin. In September 1954, he was named professor at the faculty of canon law, at first in Turin until 1957, then in Rome until 1965. He was named titular bishop of Precausa and Coadjutor Bishop of Trujillo on 26 March 1973.

He became Secretary of the Commission for the Revision of the Code of Canon Law on 20 February 1975.[1] In 1982 he was named President of the Commission for the Revision of the Code of Canon Law, which produced the 1983 Code of Canon Law.[2] He was promoted to archbishop on 26 May 1982.[3]

He was named Pro-President of the Pontifical Commission for the Authentic Interpretation of the Code of Canon Law on 18 January 1984.[4] Pope John Paul II made him a cardinal during the Consistory of 25 May 1985,[5] and two days later appointed him the first President of the Pontifical Commission for the Authentic Interpretation of the Code of Canon Law, later known as the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts.

He became President of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See on 6 December 1989,[6] a post to which he added on 31 October 1990 that of President of the Pontifical Commission for the State of Vatican City. He was also a member of several other bodies, including the Cardinals' Supervisory Commission for the Institute for Religious Works, commonly known as the Vatican Bank.

In 1996, he dismissed concerns about the health of Pope John Paul II, who was suffering from Parkinson's disease. He said: "Certainly the tremor in the hand is terrible, and I think that for the Pope, who was once such an athlete, it is a humiliating and mortifying phenomenon. But it helps to maintain a spirit of humility, and still, he is lucid, with a remarkable memory."[7]

Relations with the Chávez government

Castillo Lara was one of the Venezuelan ecclesiastic figures most opposed to the government of Hugo Chávez. In a 2006 homily, he asked for prayers "with fervour to the Virgin Mary to save Venezuela. We are living a very grave situation, like a few times in our history". Castillo once called Chávez "a paranoid dictator",[8] while Chavez called Castillo "a hypocrite, bandit and devil with a cassock."[9]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Acta Apostolicae Sedis . 160. 20 June 2020 . 1975 . LXVII . Segretario della Pontificia Commissione per la Revisione del Codice di Diritto Canonico .
  2. News: New Catholic Code Expands Women's Rights . 17 August 2018 . New York Times . UPI . 19 January 1983.
  3. Book: Acta Apostolicae Sedis . 20 June 2020 . 1982 . LXXIV . 728.
  4. Book: Acta Apostolicae Sedis . 20 June 2020 . 1984. LXXVI . 342.
  5. News: New 'Princes of the Church' . 17 August 2018 . New York Times . UPI . 25 May 1985.
  6. Book: Acta Apostolicae Sedis . 20 June 2020 . 1990. LXXXII . 120.
  7. News: Pope's Tremor Is All But Confirmed as Parkinson's . 17 August 2018 . New York Times. 12 October 1996 . Christine. Bohlen.
  8. News: Romero . Simon . Chávez to Propose Removing His Term Limits . 17 August 2018 . Nrew York Times . 15 August 2007.
  9. News: Chavez reforms go to parliament . 17 August 2018 . 17 October 2007 . BBC News.