Elia Dalla Costa

His Eminence Elia Dalla Costa
Cardinal, Archbishop of Florence
Archdiocese	Florence
Appointed	19 December 1931
Term ended	22 December 1961
Predecessor	Michele Carlo Visdomini Cortigiani
Successor	Cosimo de' Bardi
Other posts	Cardinal-Priest of San Marco (1933-1961)
Orders
Ordination	25 July 1895 by Antonio Feruglio
Consecration	12 August 1923 by Ferdinando Rodolfi
Created Cardinal	13 March 1933 by Pope Pius XI
Rank	Cardinal-Priest
Personal details
Birth name	Elia Dalla Costa
Born	(1872-05-14)14 May 1872 Villaverla, Veneto, Kingdom of Italy
Died	Florence, Tuscany, Italy
Buried	Duomo di Firenze
Nationality	Italian
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Previous post	Bishop of Padua (1923-1931) Apostolic Administrator of Padua (1932)
Motto	Virtus ex Alto (Power from on high)
Coat of arms	Elia Dalla Costa's coat of arms
Sainthood
Title as Saint	Servant of God

Styles of Elia Dalla Costa
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Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal

Elia Dalla Costa (14 May 1872 – 22 December 1961) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the Archbishop of Florence from 1931 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1933.

Biography

Early life

Dalla Costa was born in Villaverla, Veneto, the youngest of the five children. He attended the seminaries in Vicenza and Padua before being ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Antonio Feruglio on 25 July 1895. He finished his studies in 1897, and then did pastoral work in Vicenza, at whose seminary he also taught.

Episcopate and cardinalate

On 25 May 1923, Dalla Costa was appointed Bishop of Padua by Pope Pius XI. He received his episcopal consecration on the following 12 August from Bishop Ferdinando Rodolfi, with Bishops Andrea Longhin and Apollonio Maggio serving as co-consecrators, in the Cathedral of Vicenza. Dalla Costa was later named Archbishop of Florence on 19 December 1931. From January to May 1932, he was Apostolic Administrator of Padua.

Pope Pius XI created Dalla Costa Cardinal-Priest of S. Marco in the consistory of 13 March 1933. He was one of the cardinal electors in the 1939 papal conclave (at which he received votes) that selected Pope Pius XII, and later participated in the conclave of 1958, resulting in the election of Pope John XXIII. During World War II, he became known as "the Cardinal of Charity" for helping save thousands of Italians from execution under the Fascist regime.

Death and legacy

Dalla Costa died from pulmonary complications in Florence, at age 89, and is buried in the Duomo di Firenze. At the time he was the oldest member of the College of Cardinals. On 22 December 1981, exactly twently years after his death, his process for beatification was opened.

In November 2012, Catholic News Service (CNS) announced that the Servant of God Elia Cardinal Dalla Costa had been named as a "Righteous Among the Nations", a prestigious honor granted by the Yad Vashem, National Holocaust Authority, (the process of selection for each case is headed by a public commission led by an Israeli Supreme Court Justice) in Jerusalem to those who are judged to have done the most, at risk to themselves, to save Jews from the horror of the Nazi Holocaust (or the Shoah, as it is referred to by Jews) during the period before and during World War II.

External links

• Servo di Dio Elia Dalla Costa (Italian)
• Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church
• Catholic-Hierarchy
• Elia Dalla Costa at Yad Vashem website

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Luigi Pellizzo	Bishop of Padua 1923–1931	Succeeded by Carlo Agostini
Preceded by Alfonso Mistrangelo	Archbishop of Florence 1931–1961	Succeeded by Ermenegildo Florit
Honorary titles
Preceded by Georges-François-Xavier-Marie Grente	Oldest Living Cardinal 5 May 1959 – 22 December 1961	Succeeded by Francesco Morano