While in that role, he continued to serve the Italian Bishops Conference (CEI) in various roles, and collaborated with the Holy See and various theological institutes.
On July 1, 1989, he was named Archbishop of Ancona-Osma, and received his episcopal ordination Sept. 23, 1989. While there, he also served as head of the CEI's Marche region. Then in June of 1990, he was elected president of the CEI Bishops Commission for the Family.
He was named Secretary General of the CEI in March 1991, and in April resigned from his position leading the diocese of Ancona-Osimo. Four years later, on April 20, 1995, he was named Archbishop of Genoa, and served as president of the regional bishops' conference.
Just a month later, in May 1995, he was named Vice President of the CEI, a position he held until 2000.
In addition to the various responsibilities he carried out, Tettamanzi participated as an expert in the 1980 Synod of Bishops on the Family and the 1987 Synod on the Laity convoked by John Paul II. He was also a synod father at the two Special Assemblies of the Synod of Bishops for Europe in 1991 and 1999, as well as the 1994 Synod on Consecrated Life.
Tettamanzi was named Archbishop of Milan in July 2002, taking over for Jesuit Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, whose legacy, for many, was carried forward by Tettamanzi.
He was named a cardinal by John Paul II in the consistory of February 1998, and was tapped by Pope Francis to participate in the XIV Ordinary General Assembly on The Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and Contemporary World in October 2015.
Having been under the age limit of 80 during the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis, Cardinal Tettamanzi voted in both that and the conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI in 2005.
In his telegram for the cardinal's passing, Francis prayed that God would "welcome this faithful servant, whom he loved so greatly, in joy and eternal peace," and offered his blessing to all those mourning, and to those who "lovingly assisted" the cardinal during his last few years of illness.
Elise Harris was senior Rome correspondent for CNA from 2012 to 2018.