Bishop Angelo Acerbi will be the oldest cardinal in the world

Bishop Angelo Acerbi was the first name on the long list of future cardinals that Pope Francis read last Sunday from the window of the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican.

While following the Marian prayer of the Angelus from Casa Santa Marta, where Pope Francis also lives, Bishop Acerbi learned that in just two months he would become the oldest cardinal in the world.

On December 8, the day of the Immaculate Conception, the Holy Father will impose the cardinal’s biretta on 21 prelates, among them this “dean” of Nuncios who turned 99 on September 23.

In his opinion, as indicated to Vatican News, Pope Francis “wanted to give a sign of appreciation and recognition for the service that so many old and new nuncios and the staff of the Nunciatures perform in the world.”

In 1974, Pope Paul VI appointed him apostolic pro-nuncio in New Zealand and apostolic delegate for the Pacific Ocean, marking the first time in history that the Vatican had direct representation in these territories.

Two events marked his years as a diplomat of the Holy See. In March 1974 he was sent to Spain to resolve the so-called “Añoveros case”, a conflict generated between the bishop of Bilbao, Mons. Antonio Añoveros, and the Franco government chaired by Carlos Arias Navarro.

In 1979, Saint John Paul II appointed him apostolic nuncio to Colombia. In February of the following year, he was kidnapped along with 26 people by the guerrillas of the April 19 Movement (M-19) during an assault on the Dominican Republic embassy.

Mons Acerbi, then 55 years old, was released six weeks later and during the time he remained captive he was allowed to celebrate Mass every day.

He is also archbishop emeritus of Zella (Yunez) and has been apostolic nuncio in Hungary, Moldova, and the Netherlands. He was also prelate of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

For the future cardinal, who receives this appointment “with gratitude and a little fear,” the Holy Father’s decision has been “quite unexpected, also because of my age, which is very advanced.”

Likewise, he told the official Vatican media that he has received many congratulations and that he will support Pope Francis “especially with prayer, because I don’t see how else I can do it, given my advanced age.”