Giovanni Umberto Colombo (6 December 1902 – 20 May 1992) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Milan from 1963 to 1979 and was elevated to the rank of cardinal in 1965.
Biography
Early life and priesthood
Giovanni Colombo was born in Caronno Pertusella, Lombardy, the sixth of the seven children of Enrico and Luigia (née Millefanti) Colombo. His mother worked as a shirt-maker and embroiderer. Colombo was baptized two days after his birth, on 8 December.
At the seminary in Venegono Inferiore, he served as Professor of Italian (named in October 1931), Professor of Sacred Eloquence (1932–1944), and rector (2 August 1939 – 1953). Professor of Italian language and literature at the Faculties of Education and of Letters and Philosophy of the Catholic University of Sacro Cuore of Milan, 1937–1939. Colombo was raised to the rank of Monsignor on 7 December 1948 and later Rector Major of the Seminaries of Milan on 23 July 1953. On 30 August 1954, he administered Extreme Unction to Ildefonso Schuster, who was beatified in 1991.
On 6 January 1965, he presided at the ceremonies marking the completion of the construction of the Milan Cathedral, begun in 1397, by blessing the last of its five bronze doors and celebrating Mass.[3]
Colombo died in Milan, at age 89. He is buried under the pavement of the right side nave in front of the altar that contains the remains of Blessed Cardinal Schuster in the Milan Cathedral.
^Reese, Thomas J. (1996). Inside The Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church. Harvard University Press. p. 99. ISBN0-674-93261-7.
