Cardinal Amlelo Cicognani, Vatican Secretary of State from 1961 till his retirement in 1969, died in Rome on Monday, aged 90. As Secretary of State he ranked second only to the Pope in the Catholic Church.
For 25 years till 1958 he was Apostolic Delegate in Washington but was then recalled to Rome and made a Cardinal. His elder brother, Gaetano, was already a Cardinal and so the College of Cardinals had two brothers as members for the first time in 43
As Secretary of State he was a major architect of Vatican renewal under Pope John. He accompanied the Pope at the opening of the Vatican Council in 1962.
Since 1969 he had been Secretary of State Emeritus but retired as a Cardinal in 1970 under the Pope's ruling that Cardinals should retire at 80. Last