Cardinal Camillo Ruini, former president of the Italian Episcopal Conference and former vicar general of the Pope for the diocese of Rome, passed away this Tuesday at the age of 94. The news was announced by the president of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, through a statement in which he commended the cardinal to the mercy of God and expressed his closeness to his family and collaborators.
“We gather in prayer and commend to the mercy of the Father Cardinal Camillo Ruini, whom the Lord has called to Himself,” Zuppi stated in the communiqué released by the CEI.
A long trajectory of service to the Church
Camillo Ruini was born in Sassuolo, in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, on February 19, 1931. He was ordained a priest in 1954 and carried out pastoral and academic duties for decades in his diocese of origin.
In 1983 he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Reggio Emilia-Guastalla. Three years later he assumed the position of secretary general of the Italian Episcopal Conference, a responsibility he held until 1991.
That same year, Saint John Paul II appointed him president of the Italian Episcopal Conference and vicar general for the diocese of Rome. He was also created a cardinal in the consistory of 1991.
President of the Italian Episcopal Conference
Ruini presided over the Italian Episcopal Conference from 1991 to 2007, a period during which he accompanied the life of the Church in Italy under the pontificates of Saint John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
At the same time, he served for years as vicar general of the Pope for the diocese of Rome, being responsible for the pastoral coordination of the Church in the Italian capital.
In his message of condolence, Cardinal Zuppi recalled that Ruini carried out his ministry with the conviction that faith must engage with the questions raised by society and the culture of his time.
“The Christian proclamation, he always maintained, must meet the real questions of man, of society, and of culture,” noted the president of the CEI.
«Veritas liberabit nos»
Zuppi also recalled the episcopal motto of Cardinal Ruini, Veritas liberabit nos (“The truth will set us free”), and highlighted his service to the Italian Church, the diocese of Rome, and the universal Church.
The communiqué concludes by expressing closeness to the cardinal’s family, to the diocese of Rome, and to all those who collaborated with him during his ministry.
Ruini presided over the Italian Episcopal Conference from 1991 to 2007 and served for years as vicar general for the diocese of Rome. He was created a cardinal by Saint John Paul II in 1991. With his passing, one of the most prominent figures in Italian ecclesial life of recent decades disappears.