Is the Church a sinner? This is the central question in Cardinal Biffi's exposition of St. Ambrose's teaching about the Church. In an era when politicians, journalists and even some
theologians speak of the Mystical Body in this way, the Archbishop of Bologna offers the wisdom of one of the
greatest Latin Fathers as a corrective.
This study will help all those who love the Church to
rediscover a true sense of her inviolable purity and holiness.
His Eminence Giacomo Cardinal Biffi was born in Milan in 1928 and was ordained priest for that diocese in 1950. After graduate studies in theology, he taught for several years in the Archdiocesan seminary. He was a parish priest from 1960-1975, before becoming Canon Theologian of the Metropolitan Chapter, Episcopal Vicar for Culture and Director of the Lombard Pastoral Institute. During this period, he also had responsibility for the Commission for the Ambrosian Rite.
He was named an Auxiliary Bishop for Milan and was consecrated Titular Bishop of Fidene in 1976. From then until 1982, he served on the Episcopal Commissions of the Italian Bishops' Conference for the Doctrine of the Faith, for Catechesis and for Culture, of which he became Secretary in 1979. In 1982 he was elected to the Episcopal Commission for the Liturgy.
In 1984, he was named Archbishop of Bologna and was elected President of the Episcopal Conference of Emiglia-Romagna. He was created Cardinal Priest by Pope John Paul II in 1985. He is a member of the Sacred Congregations for the Clergy, for Catholic Education and for the Evangelisation of Peoples.
He is the author of numerous theological and catechetical works, and was one of the principal collaborators in the Publication of the Opera Omnia di Sant' Ambrogio (1979) and the Opera Omnia di Don Pietro Crisologo (1996), both published by Città Nuova e Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan.
Casta Meretrix (The Chaste Whore), by Giacomo Cardinal Biffi.
64 pages, paperback. ISBN 1 901157 34 2.
£4.95 ; $8.95 in the U.S.A.
Published by The Saint Austin Press.
Click here to find out how to order from your local supplier.