Agnelo Rossi (4 May 1913 – 21 May 1995) was a Brazilian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals.

Quick Facts His Eminence, Church ...

His Eminence Agnelo Rossi
Dean of the College of Cardinals
Cardinal Rossi in 1967.
Church	Roman Catholic
Appointed	19 December 1986
Term ended	31 May 1993
Predecessor	Carlo Confalonieri
Successor	Bernardin Gantin
Other post(s)	Cardinal-Bishop of Sabina-Poggio Mirteto (1984–95)
Orders
Ordination	27 March 1937 by Luigi Traglia
Consecration	15 April 1956 by Paulo de Tarso Campos
Created cardinal	22 February 1965 by Pope Paul VI
Rank	Cardinal-Priest (1965–84) Cardinal-Bishop (1984–95)
Personal details
Born	Agnelo Rossi (1913-05-04)4 May 1913 Campinas, Brazil
Died	21 May 1995(1995-05-21) (aged 82) Indaiatuba, Brazil
Previous post(s)	Bishop of Barra do Piraí (1956–62) Archbishop of Ribeirão Preto (1962–64) President of the Brazilian Bishops' Conference (1964–70) Archbishop of São Paulo (1964–70) Cardinal-Priest of Gran Madre di Dio (1965–84) Prefect of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (1970–84) Camerlengo of the College of Cardinals (1976–77) President of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (1984–89) Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia (1986–93)
Alma mater	Pontifical Gregorian University
Motto	Oportet illum regnare
Coat of arms

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Quick Facts Styles of, Reference style ...

Styles of Agnelo Rossi
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Sabina e Poggio Mirteto (suburbicarian), Ostia (suburbicarian)

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Aniello (later changed to "Agnelo") Rossi was born on 4 May 1913 in Joaquim Egidio, in the municipality of Campinas. Both his parents, Vincenzo Rossi e Vittoria Colombo, were Italian immigrants from the village of Lagonegro.^[1][2]

In 1933 he left his Brazilian home for Rome. There he studied at the Pontifical College Pio Brasileiro and the Pontifical Gregorian University. He was ordained a priest on 27 March 1937 in the Patriarchal Lateran Basilica by Luigi Traglia, Vicegerent of Rome.^[3]

Rossi subsequently met duties in Brazil, as secretary to the Bishop of Campinas for one year and as faculty member of the Central Seminary of São Paulo and the faculty of economic science of the University of Campinas. He was canon of the cathedral chapter of Campinas in 1943–1956.

In 1956 Rossi was appointed Bishop of Barra do Piraí within the metropolitan district of Rio de Janeiro. Paulo de Tarso Campos, bishop of his home diocese Campinas, consecrated him in the same year. Rossi was named Archbishop of Ribeirão Preto in 1962. Two years later he was transferred to the Archiepiscopal see of São Paulo, which he held until 1970.

In the consistory of 1965 Rossi was created Cardinal-Priest by Pope Paul VI, and he received the title of Gran Madre di Dio. In 1970 he was appointed Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the recently renamed Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide. He participated in the two conclaves of 1978 (I, II).^[4][5]

In 1984 he was promoted to Cardinal Bishop of Sabina e Poggio Morteto by Pope John Paul II; two years later he received the title of Bishop of Ostia in addition, becoming Dean of the College of Cardinals. He was President of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See from 1984 to 1989.^[6]

He resigned as president in 1989 and as Dean in 1993; because he ceased to be Dean, he gave up the title of Bishop of Ostia. He subsequently returned to Brazil. Cardinal Rossi died on 21 May 1995 in Campinas.^[7]

• Archiepiscopal see

• Catholic Hierarchy^{[self-published source]}
• Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church^{[permanent dead link]}