Roman Catholic Cardinal. A native of Turin, Martini joined the Society of Jesus in 1944, studying at the Social Institute in Turin where he was ordained priest on July 13, 1952. He went on to obtain his doctorate in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 1958 with a thesis entitled "The Historical Problem of the Resurrection in Recent Studies". He pursued his studies in Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, where in 1962 he received the Chair of Textual Criticism and in September of 1969, was appointed rector of that very university. In 1978 Pope Paul VI appointed him rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University. Elected archbishop of Milan on December 29, 1979, by Pope John Paul II, who consecrated him in St. Peter's Basilica in January of the following year, a post he held until 2002, he was created Cardinal on February 2, 1983 and in 1986, became president of the Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe, a position he held until 1993. In 1989, he received a degree honoris causa from the Salesian Pontifical University for his pastoral education program, presented in the pastoral letter "Educare Ancora". In 2002, Cardinal Martini received a second degree honoris causa in Educational Sciences from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan. He was a promulgator of the ecumenism among the various Christian churches and confessors from the Catholic side, while promoting the dialogue between Christianity and Judaism, which marked a turning point in not only in Italy, but in Europe and throughout the west. In July 2002, at the age of 75, Cardinal Martini resigned in accordance with the Code of Canon Law and became archbishop emeritus of Milan. He moved to Jerusalem where he resumed his biblical studies, but returned to Italy in 2008 to treat parkinson's disease which had been diagnosed several years earlier. Martini lost his battle against the disease, passing away at the Aloisianum of Gallarate. Considered by many as "Papabile", over 200,000 people passed by his bier while he was laid out in state at Milan's Duomo.