Ottaviani, Alfredo (born 1890)

Italian cardinal. As pro-secretary 1953-59 and secretary from 1959 of the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office, also holding several other high ecclesiastic appointments, Ottaviani was for years one of the most powerful figures in the Curia Romana. At the Second Vatican Council in 1962 he was a leader of the extreme conservative party.

Ottaviani was born in Rome and educated at the Pontifical Roman Seminary and the Pontifical Institute of Canon and Civil Law. He was ordained in 1916 and created a cardinal in 1953.