Pope Leo thanks Cardinal Re for service as Dean of College of Cardinals

Following Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re’s resignation as Dean of the College of Cardinals, Pope Leo XIV sent him a letter on Monday expressing his gratitude for the Cardinal’s service, which he “fulfilled so admirably for more than six years.”

Cardinal Re began serving with the Holy See early in his life, working in the diplomatic service to Panama and Iran as the personal secretary to Archbishop Giovanni Benelli.

Pope Leo underlined that the Cardinal’s “many and sensitive positions” in the Roman Curia led him to become a “trusted collaborator of the Supreme Pontiffs, particularly of Saint John Paul II.”

In 1979, the Polish Pope named Cardinal Re as Assessor of the Secretariat of State. Eight years later, he was appointed Secretary of the Congregation for Bishops and titular Archbishop of Vescovìo. In 1989, Cardinal Re became the Substitute of the Secretariat of State, a post he held for 11 years.

During the Jubilee Year of 2000, Pope Leo highlighted the important role the Dean Emeritus held at Pope John Paul II’s side. He “effectively directed and coordinated the many offices placed at the service of his teaching and pastoral mission, accompanying him on a memorable series of Apostolic Journeys throughout Italy and the world.”

That same year, Pope John Paul II appointed the-then Bishop Re as Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and created him a Cardinal.

All of these roles and years of service, Pope Leo explained, allowed Cardinal Re to have a rich knowledge of the universal Church, deepened by personal relationships.

The Pope further stressed that the Dean Emeritus has been and remains “one of the best-known and most highly esteemed servants of the Holy See.”