Catholic World News News Feature
Cardinal Poletti, Former Rome Vicar, Dies at 83 February 26, 1997
Vatican (CWN) -- Cardinal Ugo Poletti, the former vicar of Rome and president of the Italian bishops' conference, died last night in Rome of a heart attack.
Cardinal Poletti, born in 1914, was ordained a priest in 1938 and a bishop in 1958. He became Bishop of Spoleto in 1967, and in 1973 Pope Paul VI elevated him to the rank of cardinal and made him his vicar for the city of Rome. He undertook a number of special missions on behalf of the Holy See, dating from the time of Pope Pius XII. Since his retirement from active episcopal duty in 1991, he has served as arch-priest for the Basilica of St. Mary Major.
Pope John Paul II will preside at the funeral ceremonies at St. Peter's Basilica on Thursday, February 27.
The death of Cardinal Poletti brings the total number of cardinals down to 148, of whom 38 are over 80 years old, and thus ineligible to vote in a papal conclave.
