Silvestrini was ordained a priest on 13 July 1946 in the cathedral of Faenza by Giuseppe Battaglia, Bishop of Faenza. He earned a doctorate at the University of Bologna in 1948 and a doctorate in canon and civil law at the Pontifical Lateran University.[1]
In the 1990s, Silvestrini was mentioned as a successor to Pope John Paul II in the secular press,[4] though Vatican observers noted that his advanced age made his election unlikely.
Silvestrini died in Vatican City on 29 August 2019 at the age of 95.[5][6]