Ferdinando Giuseppe Antonelli

Who was Ferdinando Giuseppe Antonelli?

Ferdinando Giuseppe Antonelli O.F.M. was an Italian cardinal. Born in Subbiano, Italy, Antonelli joined the Order of Friars Minor in Florence in 1909, becoming a Professed Member of the Order of Friars Minor in April 1914. He served in the Italian military during World War I. On 25 July 1922 he was ordained a Priest of the Order of Friars Minor. In 1965 Antonelli was appointed Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Antonelli was a Faculty member of the Pontifical Antonianum Athenaeum, Rome, from 1928 to 1965, was Rector Magnifico from 1937 to 1943, and 1953 to 1959. He was the General Definitor of his order from 1939 to 1945. Antonelli attended the Vatican Council II from 1962 to 1965 as an expert.

On 19 February 1966 he was appointed Titular Archbishop of Idicra and on 9 March 1966 he was ordained Bishop Titular Archbishop of Idicra. On 7 May 1969 Antonelli was appointed Secretary of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and on 5 March 1973 he was elevated to Cardinal-Deacon of San Sebastiano al Palatino, on the same day resigning as Secretary of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. He was the first Cardinal appointed after Pope Paul VI's motu proprio Ingravescentem Aetatem of November 21, 1970, who was ineligible to participate in a Papal conclave as he exceeded the age limit of 80 before the next conclave.