Cé was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Luigi Traglia on 27 March 1948 in the Lateran Basilica in Rome. He then returned to Crema where he served as a professor of Scripture and as the Vice-Rector of the seminary from 1948 to 1957. He was later named rector in 1950 while continuing to teach there. He devoted his time to preach spiritual retreats to the youth of the Catholic Action and also focused on giving regular spiritual exercises to the clergy under his ward.
After the ascension of Pope John Paul I to the papacy in 1978 and his death thirty-three days later, Cé was named his successor as Patriarch of Venice by Pope John Paul II on 7 December 1978. He took canonical possession of the see on 1 January 1979 and made his official entrance into his new archdiocese on the following 7 January.
At the conclave of 2005 Cardinal Cé was the oldest of the voting cardinals.[2]
Cardinal Cé fractured his femur in April 2014 and died at the Hospital of Ss. Giovanni e Paolo in Venice on 12 May 2014 at the age of 88.[3][4]
Potential beatification
In 2015 the Patriarch of Venice Francesco Moraglia invited the Venetian people to gather documentation to start the process that would commence the cause of beatification for the late cardinal.[5]
