Giuseppe Versaldi (born 30 July 1943) is an Italian prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

who the prefect of the

Congregation for Catholic Education , type = Congregation , seal = Coat of arms Holy See.svg , seal_size = 100px , seal_caption = Coat of arms of the Holy See , logo = , picture =Via della Conciliazione din Roma1.jpg , picture_caption = Palazzo delle Congregazioni in Piazza ...

from 2015 under that body was merged into the new

Dicastery for Culture and Education The Dicastery for Culture and Education is an administrative unit of the Roman Curia. It began operations on 5 June 2022 as established by the apostolic constitution ''Praedicate evangelium'' promulgated on 19 March 2022. It was formed through t ...

in 2022. He served as president of the

Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See The Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See was an office (a technical category of dicastery) of the Roman Curia, erected on 15 August 1967, and entrusted with overseeing all the offices of the Holy See that manage finances, regardl ...

from 2011 to 2015. Before that he was Bishop of Alessandria.

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...

elevated him to the rank of cardinal on 18 February 2012.

Biography

Versaldi was born in 1943 in Villarboit in the Province of Vercelli, Region of Piedmont, and was ordained a priest on 29 June 1967. In 1972 he was sent to Rome to study

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

and then

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

at the

Pontifical Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

, where he earned a degree in psychology and a doctorate in

. Versaldi returned to Vercelli in 1976, where he was given the task of starting the diocesan Family Counseling centre. At the same time he attended courses at the

Roman Rota The Roman Rota, formally the Apostolic Tribunal of the Roman Rota ( la, Tribunal Apostolicum Rotae Romanae), and anciently the Apostolic Court of Audience, is the highest appellate tribunal of the Catholic Church, with respect to both Latin-r ...

. He received his law degree in 1980. In 1977 he was made pastor of the Parish of Larizza. Beginning in 1980 he taught canon law and psychology at the Pontifical Gregorian University. In 1985 he was appointed by the Holy See as tribunal clerk of the

Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura The Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura () is the highest judicial authority in the Catholic Church (apart from the pope himself, who as supreme ecclesiastical judge is the final point of appeal for any ecclesiastical judgment). In additio ...

, as a voting member in 1990, and a member of the Supreme Council of the Apostolic Signatura in 2007. On 25 March 1994 he was appointed

Vicar General A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop' ...

of Vercelli by Archbishop

Tarcisio Bertone Tarcisio Pietro Evasio Bertone (born 2 December 1934) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church and a Vatican diplomat. A cardinal, he served as Archbishop of Vercelli from 1991 to 1995, as Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine o ...

. Pope Benedict XVI named him Bishop of Alessandria on 4 April 2007. He was consecrated on 26 May 2007 by Enrico Masseroni, Archbishop of Vercelli, and Bishops Fernando Charrier and Natalino Pescarolo as co-consecrators. He was installed on 10 June 2007. After four years as Bishop of Alessandria, on 21 September 2011,

named Versaldi President of the

and gave him the rank of archbishop. On 18 February 2012 he was created

Cardinal-Deacon A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

of Sacro Cuore di Gesù a Castro Pretorio by Benedict XVI. On 21 April 2012, Versaldi was appointed a member of the Apostolic Signatura, the Congregation for Bishops and the

Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life The Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, formerly called Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (CICLSAL; la, Congregatio pro Institutis Vitae Consecratae et Soci ...

. Versaldi was one of the 117 cardinal electors who took part in the 2013 conclave. On 31 March 2015 Pope Francis appointed him Prefect of the

, replacing Cardinal

Zenon Grocholewski Zenon Grocholewski (11 October 1939 – 17 July 2020) was a Polish prelate of the Catholic Church, who was elevated to the rank of cardinal in 2001. He joined the Roman Curia in 1972 and served from 1999 until 2015 as Prefect of the Congregation ...

. On 4 October 2017 he was appointed a member of the

Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: * Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administr ...

. On 14 April 2018 he was named a member of the

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, pass ...

. On 13 February 2019, Versaldi signed an agreement with the

Ministry of Education, University and Research The Ministry of Education, University and Research (in it, Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca, italic=no or MIUR) is the ministry of the Italian government for the national education system, the Italian universities and ...

Marco Bussetti for the application of the

Lisbon Recognition Convention The Lisbon Recognition Convention, officially the Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region, is an international convention of the Council of Europe elaborated together with the UNESCO. This ...

for the mutual recognition of the academic qualifications released by the Italian public universities and by the Holy See's pontifical institutes. The agreement widened the variety of academic titles recognized for the teaching of Roman Catholic religion in the Italian public primary and secondary schools. On 4 March 2022, he was elevated to the rank of cardinal priest.

References

;Sources * Martin Bräuer, ''Handbuch der Kardinäle: 1846-2012'' (Berlin/Boston: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, 2014).

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Versaldi, Giuseppe Bishops in Piedmont Living people 1943 births Cardinals created by Pope Benedict XVI 21st-century Italian cardinals Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Members of the Apostolic Signatura Members of the Congregation for Bishops Members of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life Members of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples 21st-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops