Early life and education Eduardo Pironio was born on 3 December 1920 in
Argentina as the last of 22 children of José Pironio and Enriqueta Rosa Butazzoni, who had emigrated from Friuli, Italy. Months before his death, in an interview, he stated that: "I am the twenty-second child, the last born, and I have to recognize that the story is somewhat miraculous. ...When their first son was born, my mother was only 18 years old, and she became gravely ill. She was in bed for six months, unable to move. When she recovered, the doctors told her that she would not be able to have more children, and that if she did, her life would be in grave danger. She later gave birth to 21 more children – I am the last – and she lived to the age of 82." Pironio attended elementary school prior to moving into the
seminary in
La Plata where he studied both
philosophy and
theology. He continued his studies at the Pontifical Angelicum Athenaeum in
Rome where he attained a licentiate in theology. served until 1974, and was confirmed for an extra year. He was named the bishop of
Mar del Plata on 19 April 1972. He preached the Lenten spiritual exercises for Pope Paul VI and the
Roman Curia in 1974. On 20 September 1975 he was named pro-prefect of the
Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life He participated in the synod of 1977 and served as a cardinal elector in the papal conclaves of
August and
October 1978 that elected
Pope John Paul I and
Pope John Paul II. He was thought to be a possible candidate for election as pope in that year. In 1979, he attended the Third General Conference of the Latin American Episcopate in Mexico, and later a synod in 1980 and 1983. On 8 April 1984 Pope John Paul II named him president of the
Pontifical Council for the Laity. In that position, together with John Paul II, Pironio was a promoter of the first
World Youth Day. He served at seven additional synods during the next decade. After ten years as a cardinal-deacon, he took the option of becoming a
cardinal-priest while retaining his
titular church. On 11 July 1995 John Paul named him Cardinal-Bishop of the
suburbicarian see of Sabina-Poggio Mirteto. Pironio attended the Fourth General Conference of the Latin American Episcopal Conference in 1992 in the
Dominican Republic and was appointed papal envoy to the 5th National Marian Congress in
Ecuador in 1992. He retired as president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity in 1996.
Death Pironio died in 1998 of bone cancer in Rome. John Paul II presided over the funeral rites with 27 cardinals also in attendance. His remains were taken to Buenos Aires and after a Mass presided over by Cardinal
Antonio Quarracino, his remains were buried in the left lateral altar of the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján. ==Process of beatification==