Eduardo Martínez Somalo (; 31 March 1927 – 10 August 2021) was a Spanish prelate of the Catholic Church who spent most of his career in the Roman Curia, first in the Secretariat of State from 1956 to 1975 and from 1979 to 1988, and then leading two of its principal dicasteries: the Congregation for Divine Worship from 1988 to 1992 and the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life from 1992 to 2004. He was made a cardinal in 1988 and held the post of Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church from 1993 to 2007, serving as administrator of the Holy See from the death of Pope John Paul II to the election of Pope Benedict XVI. Earlier in his career he was the apostolic nuncio to Colombia from 1975 to 1979. Early life and ministry Martínez Somalo was born in Baños de Rio Tobia in La Rioja. He studied at the seminary of the Diocese of Calahorra y La Calzada-Logroño. He continued his studies in Rome at the Pontifical Spanish College and the Pontifical Gregorian University, earning licentiates in theology and canon law. He was ordained a priest on 19 March 1950 and worked for several years in the administration of the Diocese of Calahorra and teaching at the Instituto Marco Fabio Quintiliano. To prepare for a diplomatic career he entered the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in 1954. On 18 August 1956 he received a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Lateran University; his thesis topic was the Spanish concordat of 1953. He then entered the Roman Curia, serving in the Secretariat of State, where he was responsible for the Spanish section. He also taught at the Ecclesiastical Academy from 1957 to 1970. He served for several months in the Apostolic Delegation to Great Britain in 1970, but in October of that year returned to the Secretariat of State. On 12 November 1975, Pope Paul VI appointed him titular archbishop of Thagora and Apostolic Nuncio to Colombia. He received his episcopal consecration on 13 December. Curial service Pope John Paul II named him Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State on 5 May 1979. Pope John Paul announced on 30 May 1988 that he would make him a cardinal and did so on 28 June 1988, assigning him as a cardinal deacon the title of Santissimo Nome di Gesù. He opted to join the order of cardinal