Giovanni Coppa, cardinal
by Gabriele Cantaluppi
Via Pierino Belli 13, Alba, in the center of the town. A courtyard, those of the past, where the habits of the numerous surrounding families overlooked. A cesspool where one of them collected the fruit of her work, before then scattering it in the fields. Giovanni Coppa never forgot this humble place of his origins, even when the ways of Providence entrusted him with delicate ecclesiastical missions, making him meet important figures of this land. In his autobiography, written shortly before his death, which occurred on May 16th of this year, more than once he concludes the chronicle of some important encounter by recalling: «I always said to myself: 'Don't forget which dunghill you came out of , don't forget via Pierino Belli 13".
A family, his, where he was born on 9 November 1925, like the many in our country towns at the beginning of the last century: the father who traded in products for shoemakers and his salary always required the wise economy of the mother to reach the end of the month. The mother who was the first educator of her children, who did not lack religious education, first of all by her own example. And then the parish: Coppa is explicit in stating that his childhood and adolescence were guided by the experience of the oratory, with the catechism taught by the clerics of the local diocesan seminary and with the experience of Catholic Action: «The Action Cattolica was the forge of my future." Priests also played an important role: "Our priests had anticipated by many years, without knowing it, Pope Francis' acute observations on the pastoral care of the sacrament of Penance."
He also had the experience of an ecumenism ante litteram: "Mr. Flaminio", a supplier of his father, of Jewish religion, saved the family from bankruptcy by waiting a long time for the payment of the invoices. He writes: «If I became a priest, I also owe it to the help that that Jewish brother gave to my father in difficulty». Unfortunately, even the crosses were not long in coming: the most serious was the death of his older brother Gino, a twenty-four-year-old Air Force officer student, who crashed to the ground due to a failure of his aircraft during an exercise. It was during his studies at the Catholic University of Milan, where he had enrolled as a deacon, that John received the call to go to Rome, to the Apostolic Chancellery, as a "Latinist": ironically he recalls that a few years earlier he had decided not to follow the Latin courses, considering them useless for his future role as a teacher of literature in the seminary, and had been dissuaded by friends regarding their usefulness.
But even as a "curial", he never forgot that "a priest, even with sacrosanct ecclesial commitments like those of the Curia, is not an employee, but always remains one consecrated to God and his brothers" and in his free time he generously dedicated himself to apostolate in parishes and religious communities. During the summer holidays he took advantage, thanks also to the help of friendly priests, to visit many European nations, even going as far as Scandinavia and the countries that were then still under the curtain or about to become so. Years later, when he returned as bishop, he would remember the emotion he felt when faced with the enthusiasm of the population, who saw their faith traditions being reborn after the communist persecution. An experience that will be very useful to him when, after his experience in the Secretariat of State which put him in close collaboration with John XXIII and Paul VI at the time of the Council, he will be appointed Pontifical Representative Delegate and consecrated bishop by John Paul II. In this capacity he was sent all over the world to visit the Apostolic Nunciatures and diplomatic offices.
His work did not always gratify him, especially due to that "careerist" climate of the Roman Curia, so stigmatized even by Pope Francis. In fact, he writes in this regard: «The Curia also kills with silence», that is, with the indifference of colleagues. But for him it was always "a service rendered to the human dimension of the diplomatic work of the Holy See". Upon reaching retirement age he retired to the Vatican, as canon of St. Peter's Basilica, but still receiving some positions as a member of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and Consultor of the Secretariat of State for General Affairs, and finally the appointment to Cardinal by Pope Ratzinger. In his funeral homily, Pope Francis defined him as "an esteemed man of the Church, who testified to pastoral wisdom and thoughtful attention to the needs of others, meeting everyone with goodness and meekness".