Ruini was very active as a spokesperson for the Church and was one of the Church officials who most often appeared on Italian television, newspapers and magazines.
Biography
Ruini was born in Sassuolo, Emilia Romagna, on 19 February 1931. After studying at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, he obtained a licentiate degrees in philosophy and in sacred theology.[1] He was ordained to the priesthood on 8 December 1954 by Archbishop Luigi Traglia.[2] He taught philosophy at the diocesan seminary in Emilia Romagna from 1957 to 1968. From 1958 to 1966 he served as chaplain to university students and from 1966 to 1970 he served as a delegate for Azione Cattolica.[citation needed] From 1968 to 1986, he taught dogmatic theology at the Studio Teologico Interdiocesano of Modena-Reggio Emilia-Carpi-Guastalla, where he was also headmaster from 1968 to 1977.[citation needed]
On 16 May 1983, Pope John Paul II named him auxiliary bishop of Reggio Emilia and titular bishop of Nefta.[3]
He was consecrated a bishop by Bishop Gilberto Baroni on 29 June.[2] As vice president of the Preparatory Committee, he contributed to the realization of the Ecclesial Convention of Loreto (1985), which has become a reference point in the dialogue between the Church and Italian society following their difficult relationship of the 1960s and 1970s.[citation needed] In June 1986, Pope John Paul named him secretary-general of the Italian bishops conference.[2] From 1988 to 2011 he was a consultor of the Congregation for Bishops.[citation needed]
On 17 March 2010, the Vatican formed a commission to look into the phenomenon of Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina, where six young people have said they have had visions of Mary since the early 1980s. Ruini was its president. In January 2014 the commission submitted its findings to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.[9]
Politics
Ruini was seen as a social and political conservative, close to the positions of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI. He was very active in the mass media and was the strongest voice of the Church against the spring 2005 referendum for the liberalization of Italy's legal restrictions on artificial insemination. He commented upon the issue of the 1999 French Pacte civil de solidarité for unmarried couples of the same or opposite sex. In 2007 a bill was proposed in the Italian Senate for a law on civil unions. The bishops conference opposed this proposal.[10]