San Silvestro in Capite
Pope Pius XI created him Cardinal-Priest of "San Silvestro in Capite" in the consistory of 16 December 1929. Lavitrano, who once scolded Italian Catholics for their religious negligence, was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 1939 papal conclave that selected Pope Pius XII. After resigning as Palermo's archbishop in December 1944, he was made Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Religious in the Roman Curia on 14 May 1945. Lavitrano's resignation was unexpected, and it is considered that he resigned because his alleged sympathy for the Fascists -- he voted for the National Fascist Party in the 1929 Italian general elections -- became unpopular.