Larraona Saralegui was born in
Oteiza de la Solana,
Navarra, to Patricio Larraona and his wife Bartolina Saralegui. He was the second of five children, his siblings being named Luis, Digna, Amparito (who died in infancy), and Amparo. Entering the
Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1899, Larraona Saralegui received his
habit on 28 July 1902, and
professed his final
vows on 8 December 1903. After attending the
University of Lleida, he was
ordained to the priesthood by
Archbishop Juan Soldevila y Romero on 10 June 1911. Larraona Saralegui left for Rome on the following 24 October to study at the
Pontifical Roman Athenaeum S. Apollinare (from where he obtained his
doctorate in canon and civil law) and the
University of Rome. At his alma mater of the Pontifical Roman Athenaeum
S. Apoillinare, he was made professor of institutions and history of civil law in 1919, and later served as professor of
Roman law for forty years. Within the Claretians, he held the posts of
counselor of the Italian province, visitor to Germany, and general assistant to Italy, Central Europe, and China. He was appointed
consultor, in the
Roman Curia, of the
Sacred Congregation of the Oriental Churches on 8 October 1929, and of the
Sacred Congregation of Religious on 3 December of that same year. He was made
undersecretary (27 November 1943) and later secretary (11 December 1949) of the Congregation of Religious. Before naming him as
major penitentiary on 13 August 1961,
Pope John XXIII created him
cardinal-deacon of
Ss. Biagio e Carlo ai Catinari in the
consistory of 14 December 1959. He thus became the first Claretian member of the
College of Cardinals; he required the permission of his order to change his brown habit for scarlet robes, provided they were made of
wool. On 12 February 1962, Cardinal Larraona Saralegui was advanced to
prefect of the
Sacred Congregation of Rites and, in preparation of the
Second Vatican Council, president of the Pontifical Commission of the Sacred Liturgy. Cardinal Larraona Saralegui was appointed
Titular Archbishop of
Diocaesarea in Isauria on 5 April 1962, and received his
episcopal consecration on the following 19 April from Pope John, with Cardinals
Giuseppe Pizzardo and
Benedetto Aloisi Masella serving as
co-consecrators, in the
Lateran Basilica. He resigned as titular archbishop, on 20 April of that same year. Attending all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council, he served as a
cardinal elector in the
1963 papal conclave that selected
Pope Paul VI. During the conclave, he voiced
Franco's opposition to the future Paul VI. His message was carefully drafted to fall outside the prohibition of the
Jus exclusivae by
Pius X, but the cardinals nevertheless thought it outrageous. Larraona Saralegui, who had acquired the reputation of being sternly conservative, was
cardinal protodeacon, or the most senior cardinal-deacon, from 26 June 1967 to 28 April 1969. He resigned as prefect of rites on 9 January 1968, and later exercised his right as a cardinal-deacon of ten years' standing to become a
cardinal-priest (receiving the title of
S. Cuore di Maria in the
consistory of 28 April 1969). Cardinal Larraona Saralegui died on 7 May 1973 at 10:10 am after a six-day
broncho pulmonary infection in the Roman headquarters of the Claretians, at age 85. He is buried in the chapel of S. Giuseppe in the
basilica of Sacro Cuore di Maria, according to his will. ==Trivia==