Severino Poletto
Severino Poletto is an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Turin from 1999 to 2010. A bishop since 1980, he became a cardinal in 2001.Biography
Born in Salgareda, Veneto, on 18 March 1933, Poletto was ordained a priest in 1957. He earned a licentiate in moral theology from the Alphonsian Academy in Rome and worked as a curate in Montemagno. In 1965 he was named parish priest in Oltreponte; at the same time he worked part-time in a local factory.
In 1973, Poletto founded the Diocesan Centre for Family Ministry. On 3 April 1980, he was named Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese of Fossano. He was consecrated a bishop on 17 May and on 29 October became Bishop of Fossano.
He served for 10 years as secretary of the Piedmontese Episcopal Conference.
On 16 March 1989 he was named Bishop of Asti and on 19 June 1999 Archbishop of Turin.
Pope John Paul II made him Cardinal-Priest of San Giuseppe in Via Trionfale on 21 February 2001. On 15 May John Paul named him a member of the Congregation for the Clergy and on 18 May of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See and the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church.
Poletto was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI and the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis.
Pope Benedict XVI accepted his resignation as Archbishop of Turin on 11 October 2010.
