Bruno Forte (born 1 August 1949) is an Italian Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto since 2004.

Biography

Archbishop Forte was born in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. He was ordained a priest on 18 April 1973. He studied at Tübingen University associated with Hans Küng, Joseph Ratzinger and Walter Kasper. He also spent time in Paris, before gaining a Laurea degree in philosophy from Naples University. He is described by the ''

Catholic Herald The ''Catholic Herald'' is a London-based Roman Catholic monthly magazine, founded in 1888 and a sister organisation to the non-profit Catholic Herald Institute, based in New York. After 126 years as a weekly newspaper, it became a magazine ...

'' as being known in Italy and the rest of the Catholic world as a "prolific and remarkably well-connected theologian", while Rocco Palmo considered him to be "more progressive" than Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. In 2000, he oversaw the preparation of the Vatican document, "Memory and Reconciliation: The Church and the Faults of the Past", which led to the famous liturgy in St Peter's Basilica in which John Paul II asked God's forgiveness for 2,000 years of sins. John Paul II asked him to preach the Vatican's Lenten Spiritual Exercises in 2004. He was appointed as Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

on 26 June 2004. He was consecrated bishop by Cardinal Ratzinger (later

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

) on 8 September 2004; he is one of only 26 bishops consecrated by the former Pope. After the election of Pope Benedict XVI Forte was seen by some as a possible successor to become Prefect of the

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is a department of the Roman Curia in charge of the religious discipline of the Catholic Church. The Dicastery is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of t ...

, before William Levada was chosen. On 5 January 2011 he was appointed among the first members of the newly created Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation. On Monday, 14 October 2013, the Archbishop was appointed by

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

to serve as the Special Secretary of the Third Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on "The challenges of the family in the context of evangelization", scheduled from 5–19 October 2014. On Wednesday, 16 July 2014, Archbishop Forte was appointed by Pope Francis to serve a five-year term as a Consultant to the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (for Religious). In October 2014, Pope Francis added him to the group responsible for summarizing the first week of discussions at the Synod on the Family. According to John L. Allen, the resulting document was "widely known to carry the imprint of Italian Archbishop Bruno Forte, one of the more noted theological minds in the Italian hierarchy". In November 2016, Mgr Forte was elected President of the

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...

and

Molise Molise ( , ; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. Until 1963, it formed part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise together with Abruzzo. The split, which did not become effective until 1970, makes Molise the newest region in Ital ...

regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

section of the Episcopal Conference of Italy. On 11 January 2021 he was succeeded by the cardinal Giuseppe Petrocchi.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Forte, Bruno 1949 births Clergy from Naples Living people 21st-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic theologians Archbishops of Chieti 21st-century Italian Roman Catholic theologians Members of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation