Gustavo Testa

{{Infobox Christian leader

| type = Cardinal

| honorific-prefix = His Eminence

| name = Gustavo Testa

| honorific-suffix =

| title =Cardinal-Priest of San Girolamo dei Croati

| image =

| caption =

| church =

| archdiocese =

| appointed = 14 December 1959

| enthroned =

| ended = 28 February 1969

| predecessor = Santiago Luis Copello

| successor = Paolo Bertoli

| other_post =

| ordination = 28 October 1910

| ordained_by =

| consecration = 1 November 1934

| consecrated_by=Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster

| cardinal = 14 December 1959

|created_cardinal_by = Pope John XXIII

| rank =

| previous_post = {{unbulleted list|Titular Archbishop of Amasea (1934–1959)|Apostolic Delegate to Egypt, Arabia, Eritrea, Abyssinia and Palestine (1934–1948)|Apostolic Delegate to Jerusalem, Palestine, Transjordania, and Cyprus (1948–1953)|Nuncio to Switzerland (1953–1959)|Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches (1962–1968)}}

| birth_date = {{birth date|1886|7|28|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Boltiere, Bergamo, Kingdom of Italy

| death_date = {{death date and age|1969|2|28|1886|7|28|df=y}}

| death_place = Rome, Italy

| coat_of_arms=Coat of arms of Gustavo Testa.svg

| motto = Et patria et cor (The country and the heart)

| religion = Roman Catholic

}}

{{Infobox cardinalstyles|

cardinal name=Gustavo Testa|

dipstyle=His Eminence|

offstyle=Your Eminence|

See=none |

image=Coat of arms of Gustavo Testa.svg |}}

Gustavo Testa (28 July 1886 – 28 February 1969) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church, who was made a cardinal in 1959. He spent his career in the Roman Curia. He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1920 and held several appointments as papal nuncio from 1934 to 1959. He headed the Congregation for the Oriental Churches from 1962 to 1968.

Biography

Born to a wealthy family in Boltiere, in the province of Bergamo, Testa attended the Pontifical Lateran University, Pontifical Roman Athenaeum S. Apollinare, and Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. He was ordained to the priesthood on 28 October 1910, and finished his studies in 1912. After a period of pastoral work in Bergamo and teaching at its seminary, Testa entered the Roman Curia, in the Secretariat of State, in 1920. He then served as secretary of the nunciature to Austria until 1923. Testa was raised to the rank of Privy Chamberlain of His Holiness on 28 October 1921, and later Domestic Prelate of His Holiness on 18 May 1923. He was also named auditor for the Bavarian nuniciature in 1927 before becoming counselor of the nunciature to Italy in 1929.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

On 4 June 1934, Testa was appointed Titular Archbishop of Amasea and Apostolic Delegate to Egypt, Arabia, Crete, Abyssinia, Palestine, Transjordan, and Cyprus.{{cite book |title = Acta Apostolicae Sedis| access-date = 21 May 2020|page= 436| date=1934 |quote= Delegatum Apostolicum in Aegypto, Arabia, Erythraea, Aethiopia, Palaestina, TransJordania et insula Cypro |url = http://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-26-1934-ocr.pdf | volume = XXVI }} He received his episcopal consecration on the following 1 November from Cardinal Ildefonso Schuster, OSB, with Bishops Adriano Bernareggi and Angelo Roncalli serving as co-consecrators. Testa was later named the first Apostolic Delegate to Palestine, Transjordania and Cyprus when it was established on 11 February 1948,{{cite book | title = Acta Apostolicae Sedis| access-date = 30 August 2019 |pages= 298, 322–23 | date=1949 | url = https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-41-1949-ocr.pdf | volume = XXXXI |quote= Delegatio Apostolica Palaestinae, Transjordaniae et Cypri Insulae Constituter }} and Nuncio to Switzerland on 6 March 1953.{{cite book | title = Acta Apostolicae Sedis| access-date = 30 August 2019 |page= 202 | date=1953 | url = https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-45-1953-ocr.pdf | volume = XXXXV }}

Pope John XXIII created him Cardinal-Priest of San Girolamo dei Croati in the consistory of 14 December 1959. On 4 October 1961, Cardinal Testa was made Pro-President of the Cardinalitial Commission for the Special Administration of the Holy See.{{cite book |title = Acta Apostolicae Sedis| access-date = 22 May 2020|page= 700| date=1961 |url = http://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-53-1961-ocr.pdf | volume = LIII}} Pope John appointed him Secretary of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches on 2 August 1962.{{cite book |title = Acta Apostolicae Sedis| access-date = 22 May 2020|page= 602| date=1962 |url = http://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-54-1962-ocr.pdf | volume = LIV}} Testa was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 1963 papal conclave that elected Cardinal Montini as Pope Paul VI; during the conclave, Testa lost his temper and demanded that the opponents of continuing the Second Vatican Council stop blocking Montini's election.{{cite book |last1=Pham |first1=John-Peter |title=Heirs of the Fisherman: Behind the Scenes of Papal Death and Succession |date=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195178340}}{{cite journal|journal=The Madison Catholic Herald Online|url=http://www.madisoncatholicherald.org/2005-04-21/columns.html|last=Weigel|first=George|title=Conclaves: Surprises abound in the Sistine Chapel|date=21 April 2005|accessdate=13 February 2014}} As Secretary of the Congregation for Oriental Churches, he accompanied Pope Paul on his journey to the Holy Land in 1964.{{cite news | work = The New York Times | access-date = 22 May 2020 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1964/01/05/archives/potiff-fatigued-jordanians-guard-him-in-jerusalem-crush-at-damascus.html | title= Pope Fatigued | date= 5 January 1964}}

He became Pro-Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches in 1965 when Pope Paul VI decided to no longer reserve the title of Prefect to himself.{{efn|He was Pro-Prefect on 1 May 1967 when Pope Paul marked the fiftieth anniversary of its creation,{{cite book |title = Acta Apostolicae Sedis| access-date = 22 May 2020|pages= 489–91| date=1967 |url = http://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-59-1967-ocr.pdf | volume = LIX}} several months before the 15 August 1967 date sometimes attached his assuming the Prefect's title, which is the date of Pope Paul's apostolic constitution Regimini Ecclesiae Universae, which provided for the Congregation to be headed by a Cardinal Prefect.}} From 1962 to 1965, he attended the Second Vatican Council.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

Pope Paul accepted his resignation as Pro-Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches on 13 January 1968,{{cite book |title = Acta Apostolicae Sedis| access-date = 22 May 2020|pages=86–7 |date=1968 |url = http://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-60-1968-ocr.pdf | volume = LX}} and then as Pro-President of the Special Administration of Holy See on 7 May 1968.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

Testa died in Rome at age 82, and is buried in Bergamo.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

Pope John XXIII

Testa had been a close friend of Pope John XXIII, also from Bergamo, since they were schoolmates in Rome.[https://web.archive.org/web/20110524084237/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,825989-2,00.html "Eight New Hats"]. Time. 30 November 1959.

Notes

References

External links

[http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios-t.htm#Testa Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727001740/http://www2.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios-t.htm#Testa |date=27 July 2011 }}
[http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/btestag.html Catholic-Hierarchy] Wikipedia:SPS

{{succession box |

title=Apostolic Delegate to Egypt, Arabia, Crete, Abyssinia, Palestine, Transjordan, and Cyprus|

before=Valerio Valeri |

after=Arthur Hughes, MAfr |

years=1934–1948 }}

{{succession box |

title=Apostolic Delegate to Palestine, Transjordania and Cyprus |

before=none |

after=Silvio Oddi |

years=1948–1953 }}

{{succession box |

title=Nuncio to Switzerland |