Gilberto Agustoni

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = cardinal | honorific-prefix = His Eminence [[Servant of God]] | name = Gilberto Agustoni | honorific-suffix = | title = [[Apostolic Signatura|Prefect Emeritus of the Apostolic Signatura]] | image = Gilberto Agustoni.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | church = | archdiocese = | province = | metropolis = | diocese = | see = [[Santi Urbano e Lorenzo a Prima Porta]] | appointed = 26 November 1994 | elected = | term = | term_start = | quashed = | term_end = 5 October 1998 | predecessor = [[Achille Silvestrini]] | successor = [[Zenon Grocholewski]] | opposed = | other_post = [[Santi Urbano e Lorenzo a Prima Porta|Cardinal-Priest of Santi Urbano e Lorenzo a Prima Porta]] | ordination = 20 April 1946 | consecration = 6 January 1987 | consecrated_by = [[Pope John Paul II]] | cardinal = 26 November 1994 | created_cardinal_by = Pope John Paul II | rank = {{unbulleted list|Cardinal-Deacon (1994-2005)|Cardinal-Priest (2005-2017)}} | birth_name = Gilberto Agustoni | birth_date = {{Birth date|1922|07|26|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Schaffhausen]], [[Switzerland]] | death_date = {{Death date and age|2017|1|13|1922|7|26|df=yes}} | death_place = [[Rome]], [[Italy]] | buried = | nationality = Swiss | religion = [[Roman Catholic]] | residence = | parents = | spouse = | children = | occupation = | previous_post = {{unbulleted list|Titular Bishop of Caprulae (1986–1994)|[[Congregation for the Clergy|Secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy]] (1986–1992)|Pro-Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura (1992–1994)|Cardinal-Deacon of Santi Urbano e Lorenzo a Prima Porta (1994–2005)}} | profession = | alma_mater = | signature = | coat_of_arms = Coat of arms of Gilberto Agustoni.svg | motto = christus spes gloriae | education = | signature_alt = | coat_of_arms_alt =  | feast_day = | venerated = | saint_title = [[Servant of God]] | beatified_date = | beatified_place = | beatified_by = | canonized_date = | canonized_place = | canonized_by = | attributes = | patronage = | shrine = | suppressed_date =  | other = | ordinated_by = }} {{Infobox cardinalstyles| cardinal name=Gilberto Agustoni| dipstyle=His Eminence| offstyle=Your Eminence| image=Coat of arms of Gilberto Agustoni.svg| image_size=200px}}

'''Gilberto Agustoni''' (26 July 1922 – 13 January 2017) was a Swiss prelate of the [[Catholic Church]]. He worked in the [[Roman Curia]] from 1950 to 1998, ending his career as head of the [[Apostolic Signatura]] from 1992 to 1998. He became a [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|cardinal]] in 1994.

==Early life== Agustoni was born in [[Schaffhausen]], Switzerland, and had four brothers and one sister. Two of his brothers were also priests. Their mother came from a village on the shores of Lake Constance, and their father was a civil servant. He was educated at the Seminary of Lugano. He studied in Rome for a year, earning a degree in philosophy. Because of [[World War II]], he continued his studies at the [[University of Fribourg]], where he completed a degree in sacred theology.<ref name=hsbio>{{cite web| website= Holy See | accessdate= 14 January 2017 | title = Agustoni Card. Gilberto | archive-date= 19 September 2016 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160919114821/http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/documentation/cardinali_biografie/cardinali_bio_agustoni_g.html | url= http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/documentation/cardinali_biografie/cardinali_bio_agustoni_g.html }}</ref> Bishop Angelo Jelmini ordained him in Lugano on 20 April 1946.<ref name=sbc-press>{{cite press release | website = Conférence des Évêques Suisse |url= http://www.eveques.ch/documents/communiques/deces-du-cardinal-gilberto-agustoni |title=Décès du cardinal Gilberto Agustoni |author= |date=14 January 2017 |access-date=14 January 2017 |trans-title= Death of cardinal Gilberto Agustoni | language=fr}}</ref><ref name=ardengo>{{cite news | accessdate =13 January 2017 | date = 13 January 2017 | work = Il Giornale | url = http://www.ilgiornale.it/news/cronache/lutto-vaticano-morto-cardinale-gilberto-agustoni-1351454.html | title = Lutto in Vaticano, è morto il cardinale Gilberto Agustoni | language= it | first = Michele | last = Ardengo}}</ref>

Agustoni later studied at the [[Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas|Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, ''Angelicum'']] and the [[Pontifical Lateran University]] in Rome, where he earned a licentiate in theology and law.

==Roman Curia appointments== In 1950, Cardinal [[Alfredo Ottaviani]] asked Jelmini to allow Agustoni, whom he had met on several occasions, to work in the [[Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]] (CDF) while continuing his studies. Agustoni began his service there on 1 July 1950, an exceptional appointment for someone under the age of 30. He became the head of a department at the CDF and later commissioner at the [[Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments]]. Following the [[Second Vatican Council]], he helped to coordinate the curial departments engaged in Pope Paul VI's program of liturgical renewal. In May 1970, he became a Prelate Auditor of the Tribunal of the [[Roman Rota]].<ref name=hsbio/>

On 18 December 1986, [[Pope John Paul II]] appointed Agustoni [[Titular Archbishop]] of [[Caorle|Caprulae]] and Secretary of the [[Congregation for the Clergy]]. On 2 April 1992, he was appointed Pro-Prefect of [[Apostolic Signatura]], becoming Prefect when created [[Cardinal-Deacon]] of [[Santi Urbano e Lorenzo a Prima Porta]] on 26 November 1994.

He resigned his post on 5 October 1998. In early 2005, he took the option, open to Cardinal-Deacons after ten years, of becoming a [[Cardinal-Priest]]. Agustoni died on 13 January 2017, aged 94.<ref name=sbc-press/><ref name=ardengo/>

==Ottaviani Intervention== He was secretary to Ottaviani at the time of the [[Ottaviani Intervention]]. [[Jean Madiran]], a critic of the reforms of Vatican II<ref>[http://certitudes.free.fr/nrc11/nrc11002.htm Je suis un témoin à charge contre mon temps ]</ref> and founder-editor of the French journal ''Itinéraires'', claimed that this letter was fraudulently presented to the elderly and already blind cardinal for his signature by his secretary Agustoni, and that Agustoni resigned shortly afterwards.<ref>[http://www.angeluspress.org/angelus/1983_May/Ottaviani_Intervention_Pt1.htm The Ottaviani Intervention – Part I]{{Dead link|date=December 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, by [[Michael Davies (Catholic writer)|Michael Davies]]</ref> The cardinal himself never publicly confirmed this story. Agustoni resigned as Ottaviani's secretary in 1970 to join the Ecclesiastical Magistrature as Prelate Auditor of the Tribunal of the [[Roman Rota]], and there is no evidence to suggest his departure was anything more than a routine change of assignment.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/19991106002822/http://www.catholic-pages.com/hierarchy/cardinals_bio.asp?ref=147 Cardinals of the Catholic Church]}}</ref> Furthermore, Madiran admits that he was not in the room to see this alleged deception of Ottaviani.<ref>[http://www.angeluspress.org/angelus/1983_May/Ottaviani_Intervention_Pt1.htm The Ottaviani Intervention – Part 1]{{Dead link|date=December 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, by [[Michael Davies (Catholic writer)|Michael Davies]]</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{Commons category-inline}}

{{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{succession box | before=[[Achille Silvestrini]] | title=[[Apostolic Signatura|Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura]]| after=[[Zenon Grocholewski]] | years=2 April 1992 – 5 October 1998}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agustoni, Gilberto}} [[Category:1922 births]] [[Category:2017 deaths]] [[Category:People from Schaffhausen]] [[Category:Swiss Roman Catholic bishops]] [[Category:Swiss cardinals]] [[Category:Prefects of the Apostolic Signatura]] [[Category:Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II]] [[Category:Pontifical Lateran University alumni]] [[Category:Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas alumni]] [[Category:Burials at the Cimitero Flaminio]] [[Category:Swiss expatriates in Italy]] [[Category:Swiss Servants of God]] [[Category:Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II]] [[Category:20th-century Roman Catholic titular archbishops]]