Antonio Quarracino
{{Short description|Argentine Catholic prelate, cardinal (1923–1998)}}
{{more citations needed|date=March 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = cardinal
| honorific-prefix = His Eminence
| name = Antonio Quarracino
| honorific-suffix =
| title = {{br list | Cardinal | Archbishop of Buenos Aires}}
| image = Cardenal Antonio Quarracino - 1991.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Quarracino in 1991
| church = Catholic
| archdiocese = Buenos Aires
| appointed = 10 July 1990
| enthroned = 22 November 1990
| ended = 28 February 1998
| predecessor = Juan Carlos Aramburu
| successor = Jorge Mario Bergoglio
| other_post = {{unbulleted list
| Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria della Salute a Primavalle (1991{{nbnd}}1998)
| Ordinary of the Ordinariate for the Faithful of the Eastern Rites in Argentina (1990{{nbnd}}1998)
}}
| ordination = 22 December 1945
| ordained_by = Anunciado Serafini
| consecration = 8 April 1962
| consecrated_by = Anunciado Serafini
| cardinal = 28 June 1991
| created_cardinal_by = Pope John Paul II
| rank = Cardinal-Priest
| birth_name = Antonio Quarracino
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1923|8|8}}
| birth_place = Pollica, Salerno, Kingdom of Italy
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1998|2|28|1923|8|8}}
| death_place = Buenos Aires, Argentina
| buried = Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral
| religion =
| previous_post = {{unbulleted list
| Bishop of Nueve de Julio (1962{{nbnd}}1968)
| Bishop of Avellaneda (1968{{nbnd}}1985)
| Secretary General of the Latin American Episcopal Council (1979{{nbnd}}1983)
| President of the Latin American Episcopal Council (1983{{nbnd}}1987)
| Archbishop of La Plata (1985{{nbnd}}1990)
| President of the Argentine Episcopal Conference (1990{{nbnd}}1996)
}}
| residence =
| parents =
| alma_mater = San José Seminary
| signature =
| coat_of_arms = Coat of arms of Antonio Quarracino.svg
| motto = {{Langnf|la|Ipsi gloria|To Him be the glory|break=yes}}
}}
{{Infobox cardinal styles
|cardinal name=Antonio Quarracino
|image = Coat of arms of Antonio Quarracino.svg
|See=Buenos Aires
}}
{{Ordination
| date of priestly ordination = 22 December 1945
| consecrated by = Anunciado Serafini
| co-consecrators = {{Ubl | {{ill|Adolfo Servando Tortolo|es|Adolfo Tortolo|v=ib}}, | Raúl Francisco Primatesta }}
| date of consecration = 8 April 1962
| place of consecration =
| elevated by = Pope John Paul II
| date of elevation = 28 June 1991
| sources =
| bishop 1 = Alejo Benedicto Gilligan
| consecration date 1 = 4 October 1969
| bishop 2 = Rubén Héctor di Monte
| consecration date 2 = 16 August 1980
| bishop 3 = Norberto Eugenio Conrado Martina
| consecration date 3 = 9 December 1990
| bishop 4 = Héctor Rubén Aguer
| consecration date 4 = 4 April 1992
| bishop 5 = {{ill|Rubén Oscar Frassia|es|v=ib|nobold=1}}
| consecration date 5 = 4 April 1992
| bishop 6 = Jorge Mario Bergoglio
| consecration date 6 = 27 June 1992
| bishop 7 = Raúl Omar Rossi
| consecration date 7 = 27 June 1992
| bishop 8 = Pedro Luis Ronchino
| consecration date 8 = 19 March 1993
| bishop 9 = José Luis Mollaghan
| consecration date 9 = 2 October 1993
| bishop 10 = Francisco Polti Santillán
| consecration date 10 = 22 August 1994
| bishop 11 = Guillermo Rodríguez Melgarejo
| consecration date 11 = 27 September 1994
}}
Antonio Quarracino (8 August 1923 – 28 February 1998) was an Argentine prelate and cardinal of the Catholic Church in Argentina and the archbishop of Buenos Aires between 1990 and 1998.
Biography
=Early life and priesthood=
File:Tumba de Antonio Quarracino.jpg
Quarracino was born in Pollica, Province of Salerno, Italy. His family emigrated to Argentina when he was 4 years old, settling in the town of San Andrés de Giles in the province of Buenos Aires.
Quarracino was ordained priest on 22 December 1945, and became a professor at the diocesan seminary of Mercedes. He also taught theology at the Universidad Católica Argentina.
=Episcopate and cardinalate=
Quarracino was appointed Bishop of Nueve de Julio, Buenos Aires, by Pope John XXIII, on 3 February 1962, and received the episcopal see on 8 April of the same year. He participated in all sessions of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965).{{Cite magazine |title=Recuerdo del cardenal Quarracino |language=es |trans-title=Remembrance of Cardinal Quarracino |url=https://www.revistacriterio.com.ar/bloginst_new/1998/03/06/recuerdo-del-cardenal-quarracino/ |date=1998 |number=2212 |magazine=:es:Criterio (revista) |trans-magazine=Criterion (Argentine magazine) |last1=Padilla |first1=Norberto}} On 3 August 1968 Paul VI moved him to the diocese of Avellaneda (whose new cathedral was built during his rule).
John Paul II promoted him to the Archdiocese of La Plata on 18 December 1985, and then on 10 July 1990 to the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, a see to which is attached the title of Primate of Argentina. He was elected to preside over the Argentine Episcopal Conference in the following November, and then reelected until 1996. He was elevated to Cardinal-Priest of S. Maria della Salute a Primavalle in consistory on 28 June 1991.
On 27 June 1992 he was the principal consecrator of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J., later Pope Francis, as bishop.{{cite web|title=Bergoglio, Jorge Mario|url=http://www.aica.org/guia-s-T2Jpc3Bvcw==-91|work=Breve biografía de obispos|publisher=La Agencia Informativa Católica Argentina|access-date=15 March 2013|language=es|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312140844/http://aica.org/guia-s-t2jpc3bvcw==-91|archive-date=12 March 2016|url-status=dead}}
=Death=
Quarracino died in 1998 at the age of 74 at the Otamendi Hospital, due to a cardiac arrest. His doctors announced that his death came due to complications following intestinal surgery on 21 February 1998.{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/60441b46d00f92dde4ff40f6383ba112|title=Argentine Cardinal Quarracino Dies|publisher=Associated Press|date=28 February 1998|access-date=8 December 2020}} He was succeeded automatically by his coadjutor bishop, the Jesuit Jorge Mario Bergoglio.
Views
=Inter-religious dialogue with Jews=
Quarracino was a major figure of inter-religious discussion with Jews. During a visit to Israel in 1992 he was decorated by Jewish institutions for this cause, and in 1997 he had a mural painting set up in the Cathedral of Buenos Aires commemorating the victims of the Holocaust and the bombings of the Israeli Embassy and the AMIA.
=Social communications=
Quarracino was inclined to journalism and, while in La Plata, he renewed the informative magazine of the archdiocese, transforming it into a full-fledged cultural publication. As Bishop of Buenos Aires, he appeared on TV regularly; he was in charge of a segment in a religious program (Claves para un mundo mejor) in the state-owned channel ATC.
=Dirty War=
Quarracino was outspoken about controversial topics. One of his first notable public statements was his support, in 1982, of a project of law that would end all investigation of the crimes of the Dirty War, in order to "contribute to national reconciliation". This can be seen as a precedent of the Ley de Punto Final, sanctioned in 1986.
=Divorce=
=Argentine politics=
Quarracino was opposed to the policies of president Raúl Alfonsín (1983–1989) and accused politicians of corruption, as the cause of "national poverty". However, he acknowledged being a friend of president Carlos Menem (1989–1999) who was heavily criticized by other Church leaders (such as Cardinal Primatesta).
=Homosexuality=
In 1994, during his TV segment in ATC, Quarracino spoke against homosexuality saying that lesbians and gay men should be "locked up in a ghetto". This caused an accusation of discrimination, which was not considered by justice because anti-discrimination Law 23592 did not cover sexual orientation. Three years before he had termed homosexuality "a deviation of human nature, like bestiality".{{Cite web |url=http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elpais/1-55734-2005-08-28.html |title=Página/12 :: El páis :: Happy together |language=es |trans-title=Page/12 :: The country :: Happy Together |website=Página/12 |trans-website=Page/12 |first1=Horacio |last1=Verbitsky |date=28 August 2005}}
=Boca Juniors=
The Cardinal was an avowed fan of the Boca Juniors football team. When he celebrated his 50 years of priesthood he received a Boca Juniors shirt signed by all the team members.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bquar.html Catholic-Hierarchy.org]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20051223024621/http://www.zenit.org/spanish/archivo/9803/980301.htm#A2 Zenit Catholic News Agency]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110531161448/http://hoy.eplatenses.com.ar/98/03/01/c12y13.pdf Hoy magazine], La Plata, 1 March 1998.
- {{Cite web |url=https://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=89229 |title=Falleció Quarracino y asume Bergoglio en la arquidiócesis |language=es |trans-title=Quarracino dies and Bergoglio assumes the archdiocese |website=La Nación |date=March 1, 1998 |author1=Bartolomé de Vedia [Bartholomew of Vedia] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120703153911/http://www.lanacion.com.ar/89229-fallecio-quarracino-y-asume-bergoglio-en-la-arquidiocesis |archive-date=3 July 2012 |url-status=dead |ref=none}}
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{{succession box | before=Juan Carlos Aramburu | title=Archbishop of Buenos Aires | years=10 July 1990 – 28 February 1998| after=Jorge Mario Bergoglio }}
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{{Pope Francis}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quarracino, Antonio}}
Category:Argentine people of Italian descent
Category:People from the Province of Salerno
Category:Participants in the Second Vatican Council
Category:Roman Catholic archbishops of Buenos Aires
Category:20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Argentina
Category:Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II
Category:Italian emigrants to Argentina
Category:Burials at Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral
Category:Roman Catholic bishops of Avellaneda-Lanús