Cardinal Edoardo Menichelli, archbishop emeritus of Ancona-Osimo in the northern Italian region of Marche, has died at the age of 86 after a long illness.
“It is with great sadness that I learned that our Cardinal Edoardo Menichelli has returned to the Father’s house. Let us raise our prayers to the good Lord, rich in mercy, that he may welcome his beautiful soul into paradise,” Archbishop Angelo Spina of Ancona-Osimo said on the archdiocese’s website.
“Sick for some time, he faced his illness and heavy treatments with courage, revealing the indomitable spirit that characterized his temperament and his desire to live his consecration to the Lord with unshakeable faith until the end,” said Archbishop Francesco Massara of the nearby Diocese of Camerino-San Severino Marche.
Menichelli was born in Serripola di San Severino Marche on Oct. 14, 1939.
After studying at the Pius XI Regional Pontifical Seminary in Fano, he moved to Rome, where he obtained a licentiate in theology from the Pontifical Lateran University.
Ordained a priest in 1965, he was called to Rome in 1968 to work at the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Church’s Supreme Court. He remained there until 1991, when he was transferred to the Congregation for Eastern Churches.
On June 10, 1994, Pope John Paul II appointed him archbishop of Chieti-Vasto in the region of Abruzzo. He was consecrated by Cardinal Achille Silvestrini.
On Jan. 8, 2004, Menichelli was named archbishop of Ancona-Osimo. Pope Francis appointed him a member of the two Synods of Bishops on the Family in 2014 and 2015.
Pope Francis made Menichelli cardinal in the consistory of February 2015, assigning him the titular church of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Tor Fiorenza.
Menichelli resigned in July 2017 upon reaching the age limit for bishops.
The funeral service for the late cardinal will take place at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 22, in the Madonna dei Lumi Sanctuary in San Severino Marche and will be presided over by Bishop Nazzareno Marconi of Macerata, president of the episcopal conference of the Marche region.
At the end of the funeral, the coffin will be taken to Ancona and, according to the cardinal’s will, he will be buried in the Cathedral of San Ciriaco.
The funeral chapel has been set up at the Madonna dei Lumi Sanctuary and will remain open from 5 p.m. to midnight Oct. 20 and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Oct. 21.
This story was first published by ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
