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Angelo Raffaele Sodano
(23 November 1927 – 27 May 2022) was an Italian
Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church
. He was
Dean of the College of Cardinals
from 2005 to 2019. He was born in
Isola d'Asti
,
Piedmont
.
He was
Cardinal Secretary of State
from 1991 to 2006, under both popes
John Paul II
and
Benedict XVI
. On 27 April 2005, he was elected to succeed Benedict XVI as Dean of the
College of Cardinals
by his fellow
Cardinal Bishops
. Sodano was the first person since 1828 to serve as Dean and Secretary of State at the same time.
On 22 June 2006, Benedict XVI accepted Sodano's resignation as Secretary of State on 15 September 2006. He was replaced by
Tarcisio Bertone
, then
Archbishop of Genoa
.
On 21 December 2019, the
Legion of Christ
discovered that Sodano was the one who led efforts to cover up the reports of abuse when he was
serving as
Secretariat of State
.
[1]
[2]
Sodano was accused of seeking a deal to bury documents detailing abuse. The same day, Pope Francis accepted Sodano's resignation as Dean of the College of Cardinals.
[3]
Sodano died of
COVID-19
on 27 May 2022 at a hospital in
Rome
,
Italy
at the age of 94.
[4]
Media related to
Angelo Sodano
at Wikimedia Commons