Marcello Semeraro (born 22 December 1947) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints since October 2020. He was previously

Bishop of Albano The Diocese of Albano () is a Latin suburbicarian see of the Diocese of Rome in Italy, comprising seven towns in the Province of Rome. Albano Laziale is situated on the Appian Way some from Rome. Since 1966, it has both a titular bishop and a ...

and secretary to the group of cardinals named 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 advise him. Pope Francis raised him to the rank of

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

on 28 November 2020.

Biography

Semeraro was born in Monteroni di Lecce,

Province of Lecce The province of Lecce (; Salentino: ) is a province in the Apulia region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Lecce. The province is called the "Heel of Italy". Located on the Salento peninsula, it is the second most-populous province in Ap ...

, Italy. He was ordained to the priesthood on 8 September 1971. He received his Doctor of Theology degree in 1980 from the

Pontifical Lateran University The Pontifical Lateran University (; ), also known as Lateranum, is a pontifical university based in Rome. The university also hosts the central session of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. The university ...

. On 25 July 1998 he was named Bishop of Oria. He was consecrated on 29 September 1998 by Archbishop Cosmo Francesco Ruppi with Archbishops Domenico Caliandro and Donato Negro as co-consecrators. He taught at the

in 2001.

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 ...

chose him as Special Secretary of the 2001 Synod of Bishops, which considered the role of the bishops in contemporary society. That Synod's final statement pointed to social injustice as the root cause of terrorism and decried third world debt and "the enduring drama of hunger and extreme poverty". Semeraro commented: "There is a strong will to dismantle the image of bishops as men of power and to reinstitute the image of bishops as men of service." On 1 October 2004 he was named Bishop of Albano. He is a Consultant to the

Congregation for the Clergy The Dicastery for the Clergy, formerly named Congregation for the Clergy (; formerly the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy and Sacred Congregation of the Council), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia responsible for overseeing matters regard ...

and the Italian Episcopal Conference (IEC), and a member of the IEC Commission for the Doctrine of the Faith. On 4 May 2007 he was elected president of the administrative board of the IEC newspaper '' Avvenire'', in place of Cardinal

Angelo Bagnasco Angelo Bagnasco (; born 14 January 1943) is an Italian Cardinal (Catholicism), Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Genoa, Archbishop of Genoa from 2006 to 2020. He was President of the Conferenza Episcopale It ...

of Genoa, who had been elected president of the IEC. In June 2010, he became president of the IEC Commission for the Doctrine of the Faith. On 13 April 2013 Pope Francis appointed him secretary of the commission of cardinals appointed to advise him on the government of the Church and the organization of the Roman Curia. On 4 November 2013, Pope Francis appointed him Apostolic Administrator of the Exarchic Monastery and Territorial Abbacy of Saint Mary of Grottaferrata. In a 2017 interview, Semeraro described the work of the Council of Cardinals: listening, reflecting, and verifying. The Council, he said, listens to the contributions of the Church; reflects on those contributions, and looks into the details of them, considering the best way of going forward. It then makes proposals to the Pope; as Semeraro explained, the Council has a consultative role. On 15 October 2020, Pope Francis appointed him Prefect 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, passi ...

. On 25 October 2020, Pope Francis announced he would raise him to the rank of

at a consistory scheduled for 28 November 2020. At that consistory, Francis made him Cardinal-Deacon of

Santa Maria in Domnica The Minor Basilica of St. Mary in Domnica alla Navicella (Basilica Minore di Santa Maria in Domnica alla Navicella), or simply Santa Maria in Domnica or Santa Maria alla Navicella, is a Roman Catholic basilica in Rome, Italy, dedicated to the Bless ...

. On 16 December he was named a member of the Congregation for Oriental Churches and the Dicastery for Communications. He participated as a cardinal elector in the

2025 papal conclave A conclave was held on 7 and 8 May 2025 to elect a new pope to succeed Pope Francis, Francis, who had died on 21 April 2025. Of the 135 eligible Cardinal electors in the 2025 papal conclave, cardinal electors, all but two attended. Cardinal Piet ...

that elected

Pope Leo XIV Pope Leo XIV (born Robert Francis Prevost, September 14, 1955) has been head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State since May 2025. He is the first pope to have been born in the United States and North America, the fir ...

Works

* ''Mistero, comunione e missione - Manuale di ecclesiologia'' (Bologna, 2004) * ''Dalla Parte del Padre'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2010)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Semeraro, Marcello 1947 births Living people 21st-century Italian cardinals 21st-century Italian male writers 21st-century Italian non-fiction writers 21st-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II Bishops in Lazio Cardinals created by Pope Francis Italian male non-fiction writers Italian Roman Catholic writers Members of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints Pontifical Lateran University alumni

Biography

Works

See also

References

External links