Vatican: Former Vatican diplomat and retired secretary of state Cardinal Angelo Sodano, was called to eternal rest at the age of 94.

The ex-dean of the College of Cardinals had contracted pneumonia after becoming ill with COVID-19; He had been hospitalized since May 9 at Rome’s Columbus Hospital. His funeral will be held in St. Peter’s Basilica on May 31.

Cardinal Sodano retired as secretary of state in 2006, after leading the powerful curial office for 15 years under both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.

Sodano was born in Isola d’Asti, in Italy’s north-western Piedmont region, the second of six children. He was ordained a priest in 1950 and spent almost 10 years teaching dogmatic theology in the diocesan seminary before being called to serve in the Vatican’s diplomatic corps.

Sodano was nuncio to Chile from 1977 to 1988. He also served in the nunciatures in Ecuador and Uruguay and was secretary of the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church.

In a statement, Pope Francis said that the death of Cardinal Sodano “stirs in my soul feelings of gratitude to the Lord for the gift of this esteemed man of the Church, who lived with generosity his priesthood first in the Diocese of Asti and then, for the rest of his long existence, in the service of the Holy See.”

In his telegram for Sodano’s death, Pope Francis said “I recall his diligent work alongside so many of my predecessors, who entrusted him with important responsibilities in Vatican diplomacy, up to the delicate office of the secretary of state.”

“In the Roman Curia, he carried out his mission with exemplary dedication. I, too, was able to benefit from his gifts of mind and heart, especially during the time when he exercised the office of Dean of the College of Cardinals,” he continued.

“In every assignment, he showed himself to be an ecclesially disciplined man, an amiable pastor, animated by a desire to spread the leaven of the Gospel everywhere,” he stated. “I raise to God the Merciful Father prayers of suffrage for the late cardinal, that he may receive him into eternal joy.”