Renato Corti

His Eminence Renato Corti
Cardinal, Bishop Emeritus of Novara
Church	Roman Catholic Church
Diocese	Diocese of Novara
In office	19 December 1990 to 24 November 2011
Other posts	Cardinal-Priest of San Giovanni a Porta Latina
Orders
Ordination	28 July 1959 by Giovanni Battista Montini (later Pope Paul VI)
Consecration	6 June 1981 by Carlo Maria Martini
Created Cardinal	19 November 2016 by Pope Francis
Rank	Cardinal Priest
Personal details
Born	(1936-03-01) 1 March 1936 Galbiate, Province of Lecco, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Denomination	Roman Catholicism
Motto	Cor ad cor loquitur (Heart speaks to Heart)
Coat of arms

Styles of Renato Corti
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal

Renato Corti (born 1 March 1936) is an Italian cardinal and prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was Bishop of Novara from 1990 to 2011. Pope Francis raised Corti to the rank of cardinal at a consistory on 19 November 2016.

Early years

Renato Corti was born in Galbiate in the province of Lecco, part of the Archdiocese of Milan on 1 March 1936. He studied at the seminary in Milan and was ordained on 28 July 1959 by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini (later Pope Paul VI). His assignments included serving as parrochial vicar of the Oratory of Caronno Pertusella from 19959 to 1967, spiritual director at the College of Gorla Minore from 1967 to 1969, spiritual director of the archdiocesan seminary of Saronno from 1969 to 1977. He then became rector for theology at that seminary. He became vicar general of the Milan Archdiocese in November 1980.

Episcopacy

Pope John Paul II named him auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Milan on 30 April 1981 and titular bishop of Zallata. He received his episcopal ordination on 6 June 1981 from Archbishop Carlo Maria Martini, with Bishops Libero Tresoldi and Bernardo Citterio as co-consecrators. The same pope named him Bishop of Novara on 19 December 1990 to succeed Aldo Del Monte, and he was installed on 3 March 1991.

In November 2007, a few months after Pope Benedict XVI issued rules about the use of the Tridentine Mass, three priests in the Novara diocese refused to celebrate Sunday Mass if they were not allowed to use the traditional Tridentine form exclusively. Corti suspended them.^[1][2]

While Bishop of Novara he served terms as vice president of the Italian Bishops Conference (2000 to 2005) and vice president of the Regional Bishops Conference of Piedmont. He also held assignments in the Roman Curia as a member of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches and the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

Pope Benedict XVI accept his resignation as bishop of Novara on 24 November 2011. In retirement he has continued to lead spiritual exercises for both religious and lay groups. He lives at Rho, near the college of the Oblates of St. Ambrose and St. Charles.^[3]

Corti is known for his work as a spiritual director. Pope John Paul II asked him to lead his Lenten retreat in 2005 and at the invitation of Pope Francis he wrote the meditations used at the Stations of the Cross at Rome's Colosseum in 2015.^[4][5]

Pope Francis raised Corti to the rank of cardinal at a consistory held on 19 November 2016. Having passed the age of 80, Corti is not eligible to participate in a papal conclave. He was given the rank of Cardinal-Priest and assigned the titular church of San Giovanni a Porta Latina.^[6]

Select works

• La direzione spirituale oggi, with Giovanni Moioli (1998)
• Il miracolo sarebbe la santità. Meditazioni sul ministero sacerdotale (1999)
• Un giovane diventa cristiano. L'esperienza di Sant'Agostino. Lettera pastorale per l'anno 2003-2004 (2003)
• La Chiesa a servizio della nuova ed eterna alleanza. Esercizi spirituali in Vaticano (2005)
• La parrocchia, with Enzo Bianchi (2005)
• Rivestitevi di Cristo Eucaristia e Parola di Dio: la sorgente e l'alimento della maturità cristiana (2007)
• Fate quello che egli vi dirà. Vivere da cristiani nel mondo (2008)

References

External Links