Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone

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Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone is the Archbishop of Genoa and was considered papabile following the death of Pope John Paul II.

His Eminence Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone (born 2 December 1934) is Archbishop of Genoa and a Cardinal Priest in the Roman Catholic Church.

Born in Romano Canavese, Italy, the fifth of eight children, Bertone entered the Salesian order in 1950; he was ordained in 1960. The holder of a doctorate in canon law, Bertone has taught extensively on the subject, and was appointed Rector of the Pontifical Salesian University (where he himself had studied) in 1989.

In 1991, Bertone was appointed Archbishop of Vercelli by Pope John Paul II; he held that post until his resignation in 1995, when he was named Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a position within the Roman Curia. He was appointed Archbishop of Genoa in 2002 and elevated to the College of Cardinals in 2003, being associated as Cardinal Priest of Sanctae Mariae Auxiliatricis in via Tusculana.

As a member of the Society of Don Bosco he is still considered as a priest who has undertaken work with youth who, in Pope John Paul's last words, he had sought throughout his papacy. Moreover, Bertone's dissertation on tolerance and religious freedom has given him a good start as a theologian and canonist in a crisis-ridden world. He actually later specialized in the relationship between social morality, faith and politics. He also helped in the revision of Code of Canon Law, was Rector of Salesian University and undertook pastoral work in parishes.

In the Jubilee Year 2000, Cardinal Bertone was entrusted by Pope John Paul II with the publication of third part of the secret of Fatima.

Bertone was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI.

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