Loris Francesco Capovilla, key aide in Catholic Church, dies

New York Times
Published 8:00 pm, Saturday, May 28, 2016

Cardinal Loris Francesco Capovilla, who as personal secretary to Pope John XXIII helped prepare the Roman Catholic hierarchy for the opening of the Second Vatican Council, died Thursday in Bergamo, Italy. He was 100.

His death was reported by the Italian news agency Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata.

He was a priest when he met Cardinal Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, the future pope, in Venice in 1953. He had served as a military chaplain during World War II and later as a radio broadcaster and journalist for the church. Roncalli had just been installed as the patriarch of Venice in 1953.

The two men formed an instant rapport. Roncalli engaged Cardinal Capovilla as his private secretary and, after the death of Pius XII in 1958, as one of his representatives to the papal conclave convened to elect a new pope. After his election to the papacy, John took his assistant with him to the Vatican.

http://www.sfgate.com/world/article/Loris-Francesco-Capovilla-key-aide-in-Catholic-7951702.php