Pope: An illustrious Catholic statesman

"An illustrious Catholic statesman”: This is how Pope Benedict XVI has recalled former Italian President, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, who died aged 93 this weekend. He was the , from 1992 to 1999.

In a telegram of condolences to his daughter, the Holy Father writes that Scalfaro “did his best to promote the common good and the perennial ethical and religious values ​​of Christianity that is proper to Italy’s historical and civic tradition".

Scalfaro was a member of the 1946 Constituent Assembly and held the role of minister and secretary several times. He became Speaker of the House in April 1992 and was elected to the Office of President a month later, just days after the the killing of anti-Mafia magistrate Giovanni Falcone.

On a personal note, Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J., Director of Vatican Radio, recalls the former President as “one of the last and most eminent representatives of that generation which generously pledged itself for the reconstruction of the country at the end of the tragedy of fascism and war, and did so with perfect intense passion, professionalism and absolute cultural integrity”.

“For this, he was an important point of reference, together with others, first in Piedmont and then throughout the whole country, not only for Catholics but for all those who lived to serve Italy with great moral rectitude even in a time when this unfortunately has gradually become much rarer. I will always be immensely grateful to that generation of Catholic politicians, whom I knew and admired in Piedmont in my early youth - and to President Scalfaro - for the trust they inspired in the value of a loyal and unselfish social, civil and political commitment”.

”He was also a person who never hid his Christian faith, his full participation in the life of the Catholic Church, or even his genuine devotion to Mary. In this way he effectively demonstrated how to be both a deeply convinced believer and a supporter of the shared fundamental values ​​of the civil and political life of the country, while respecting the pluralism of positions”.