Angelo Acerbi

Angelo Acerbi was born in Sesta Godano, Liguria, on 23 September 1925 and ordained a priest on 27 March 1948. With a degree in canon law and a licentiate in theology, he completed the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy (1954) and entered the Holy See's diplomatic service, serving in Colombia, Brazil, Japan, France, and Portugal. On 22 June 1974 Paul VI appointed him titular Archbishop of Zella and pro-nuncio to New Zealand and apostolic delegate to the Pacific, consecrating him personally on 30 June.

As nuncio to Colombia, on 27 February 1980 he was taken hostage with other diplomats when M-19 guerrillas seized the Dominican Republic's embassy in Bogotá; he celebrated Mass daily for the hostages through six weeks of captivity and was among the last released, in Havana on 28 April. He went on to serve as the first nuncio to Hungary after communism's fall (1990–97), nuncio to Moldova and to the Netherlands (1997–2001), and Prelate of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (2001–15). On 7 December 2024 Francis created him a cardinal, with the deaconry of Santi Angeli Custodi a Città Giardino — at 99 years and 75 days, the oldest man ever made a cardinal; he delivered the address of homage at the consistory. On 23 September 2025 he turned one hundred; he is the oldest living cardinal. His motto is Fide et lenitate — “in faith and gentleness.”