Sergio Cardinal Pignedoli
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Sergio Cardinal Pignedoli (June 4, 1910 - June 15, 1980) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and a member of the Roman Curia in Vatican City.
Pignedoli was born in 1910 in Felina di Reggio Emilia, Italy and was ordained a priest in 1933. In World War II, he served as a military chaplain. He was ordained a bishop in 1951 and was the Apostolic Nuncio to Bolivia from 1951 to 1954 and that of Venezuela from 1954 to 1955. In 1955, he was named auxiliary bishop of Milan, Italy, where he remained until 1960. From 1960 until 1967, he held the title of Apostolic Delegate being the delegate to Canada in the latter half of his delegacy.
In 1967, Pignedoli was appointed by Pope Paul VI as Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples which he held until his elevation to Cardinal in the consistory of March 5, 1973 with the title of Cardinal Deacon of S. Giorgio in Velabro (protodeacon, June 30, 1979). Cardinal Pignedoli was subsequently appointed President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, a position which he held until his death.
As a Cardinal, Pignedoli participated in the August 1978 Conclave and the October 1978 Conclave that elected Pope John Paul I and Pope John Paul II respectively. Cardinal Pignedoli was considered by many as a papabile in both of those conclaves.
