Casaroli was born in
Castel San Giovanni in the
province of Piacenza, Italy, to a family of humble roots. His father was a tailor in
Piacenza. He was educated at the
Collegio Alberoni in Piacenza; the Episcopal Seminary of Bedonia, Piacenza; the
Pontifical Lateran University in Rome where he earned a doctorate in
canon law; and at the
Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy.
Early career He was
ordained to the priesthood on 27 May 1937 in Piacenza. He studied in Rome from 1937 to 1939. Beginning in 1940 he served in the Vatican
Secretariat of State while also participating in pastoral ministry in the diocese of Rome from 1943. He was named
Privy Chamberlain of His Holiness on 4 January 1945. He served as chaplain of
Villa Agnese from 1950 to 1998. He was raised to the rank of
Domestic prelate of His Holiness on 22 December 1954. He served as an assistant to Cardinal
Adeodato Giovanni Piazza at the First General Conference of the Latin American Bishops in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1955. He served as a faculty member of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy from 1958 to 1961. On 24 February 1961, he was appointed Undersecretary of the
Sacred Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, effectively deputy foreign minister. In 1964, he represented the Holy See at the exchange of instruments in ratification of the
modus vivendi with
Tunisia, concerning the situation of the Catholic Church. He was a signatory of the partial agreement between the Holy See and Hungary in
Budapest on 15 September 1964. He negotiated with the Communist
Czechoslovak government over the appointment of
František Tomášek as
apostolic administrator of the
Archdiocese of Prague in February 1965. He was appointed secretary of the Sacred Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs on 29 June 1967. Pope Paul consecrated him a bishop on 16 July 1967. During the period following Vatican II, Casaroli gained a reputation as a highly skilled diplomat who was able to negotiate with regimes hostile to the Church. He headed the
CSCE conference in Helsinki from 30 July to 1 August 1975. On 28 April 1979, he was appointed Pro-Secretary of State.
Cardinal Casaroli was made a
Cardinal-Priest of
Ss. XII Apostoli in John Paul II's first consistory in 1979, and at the same time he became Secretary of State. Although he was seen as less hardline than any other close associate of John Paul, Casaroli's skillful diplomacy was seen by Wojtyła as an irreplaceable asset in the struggle against the
Soviet Union. as Vatican Secretary of State in 1981 In 1985 he became
Cardinal Bishop of the
suburbicarian diocese of
Porto-Santa-Rufina, and in 1990 he retired as Secretary of State, being succeeded by
Angelo Sodano (who became Pro-Secretary of State at that time). He was Vice-Dean of the
College of Cardinals from 1993 until his 1998 death of cardiorespiratory disease. ==Views==