Ernesto Ruffini

Ernesto Ruffini (19 January 1888 – 11 June 1967) was an Italian Cardinal of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Palermo from 1945 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1946 by Pope Pius XII.

Ruffini was born in San Benedetto Po in the Province of Mantua, and studied at the diocesan seminary of Mantua, the Pontifical Theological Faculty of Northern Italy (obtaining his licentiate in theology), and the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) (licentiate in philosophy) and Pontifical Biblical Institute (diploma to teach Biblical Science) in Rome. He was ordained to the priesthood on 10 July 1910, and finished his studies in 1912.

Ruffini taught at the Major Roman Seminary (1913–1930), and then the Pontifical Urbaniana University (1917–1929). Raised to the rank of Monsignor in 1925, he was appointed Secretary of the Congregation of Seminaries and Universities on 28 October 1928. Ruffini was made a Protonotary Apostolic on 15 June 1931. In 1930, Ruffini was made Prefect of Studies at the Pontifical Lateran University, of which he was named rector magnifico in the following year. Noted for his interest in science, Ruffini founded the Medical Biological Union of St. Luke, examining the relationships between Catholicism and science, in 1944.