Roman Catholic Cardinal. Poppi born Antonio Innocenti entered seminary in Fiesole, successively furthering his studies in Rome at the Pontifical Gregorian University, the Pontifical Lateran University and the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. Ordained priest on July 17, 1938 in Florence, between 1941 and 1948 he lectured canon law and moral theology at the Diocesan Seminary of Fiesole, serving also as secretary to the local bishop. Convicted twice for helping victims of the Nazi occupation, he was taken before a firing squad but freed at last minute. Founding the Christian Association of Italian Workers (ACLI) at the end the the Second World War, he entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1950. Appointed secretary of the apostolic delegation in the Belgian Congo, Ruanda-Urundi, he acted as auditor of the apostolic nunciature in Switzerland between 1953 and 1960. Successively, he served the same office in the apostolic internunciatures of Holland, Egypt, Syria and Jerusalem and in the nunciature of Belgium. Counselor of the apostolic nunciature in France from 1964 until 1967, on December 15 of the latter he was elected archbishop of the titular see of Eclano and appointed apostolic nuncio in Paraguay by Pope Paul VI. Receiving his episcopal consecration on February 18, 1968 in Florence from Cardinal Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, he was named secretary of the Sacred Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments on February 26, 1973. During his tenure, the congregation was united with the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship as the Sacred Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship on July 11, 1975. Appointed apostolic nuncio in Spain on October 4, 1980, Pope John Paul II created him cardinal deacon in the consistory of May 25, 1985 with the deaconry of Santa Maria in Aquiro and later appointed him prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy on January 9, 1986. President of the Pontifical Commission for the Conservation of the Artistic and Historical Patrimony of the Church, he resigned the both prefecture and the presidency on July 1, 1991 on his appointment as president of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. Resigning the presidency at eighty years of age on December 16, 1995, he opted for the order of cardinal priests, having his deaconry elevated 'pro hac vice' to title on January 29, 1996. Passing away on Saturday, September 6, 2008 early in the afternoon in Rome, his remains lie buried in the cemetery of his native Poppi.