Mario Aurelio Poli (; born 29 November 1947) is an
Argentine
Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...
prelate of the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
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 ...
, his predecessor in Buenos Aires, made him a
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 ...
in 2014.
Early life and career
Mario Poli was born in Buenos Aires in 1947 as a son of Italian immigrants. He began his philosophical and theological studies in 1969 at the
Inmaculada Concepción Seminary
The Inmaculada Concepción Seminary is located in Villa Devoto, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Pope Francis studied in it during his youth. It was built in 1899.
in Villa Devoto. He obtained his bachelor's degree in social services at the
University of Buenos Aires
The University of Buenos Aires (, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the second-oldest university in the country, and the largest university of the country by enrollment. Established in 1821 ...
and his doctor of theology degree at the
Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina
The Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina (), also known as Catholic University of Argentina (; UCA), is a private university in Argentina with campuses in the cities of Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Rosario, Paraná, Mendoza and Pergamino. The ...
. Poli was ordained a priest by Cardinal Juan Carlos Aramburu on 25 November 1978, and led the Parish of San Cayetano in Liniers for two years.
In 1992, the Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires Antonio Quarracino appointed him Director of the Vocational Institute "Saint Joseph", a place of formation of future priests.
He was professor of ecclesiastical history and patrology at the Argentine Catholic University.
Bishop
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 ...
appointed him auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires on 8 February 2002, and
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 ...
appointed him Bishop of Santa Rosa on 24 June 2008.
Poli opposed same-sex marriage in Argentina and in 2013 said that he would have a respectful but distant relationship with the administration of Argentine President
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and former politician who served as the 56th president of Argentina from 2007 to 2015, and later as the 37th Vice ...
, a political stance similar to that of Bergoglio. and called for increased dialogue between the church and the state.
News of his appointment as archbishop of Buenos Aires was leaked to the press on 27 March 2013, two weeks after the post became vacant upon the election of Jorge Bergoglio to the papacy as
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 ...
. The leak was an embarrassment for Church officials. The Vatican announced Poli's appointment on 28 March and he was installed on 20 April at the
Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral
The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity () is a Roman Catholic Cathedral in Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina.pallium
The pallium (derived from the Roman ''pallium'' or ''palla'', a woolen cloak; : pallia) is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the pope, but for many centuries bestowed by the Holy See upon metropolitan bish ...
from Pope Francis in Rome on 29 June 2013.
Cardinal
Poli was made a cardinal in the consistory of 22 February 2014 with the rank of Cardinal-Priest of San Roberto Bellarmino, the same titular assignment held by Pope Francis.
On 19 February 2014 he was appointed a member of the
Congregation for the Oriental Churches
The Dicastery for the Eastern Churches (also called the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches), previously named the Congregation for the Oriental Churches or Congregation for the Eastern Churches (), is a dicastery of the Roman Curia responsible f ...
and Pontifical Council for the Laity.
Poli gave the homily for the
Mass
Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...
at the
Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral
The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity () is a Roman Catholic Cathedral in Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina.First National Government holiday. Poli quoted Francis and requested more political dialogue.
Pope Francis accepted his resignation as archbishop of Buenos Aires on 26 May 2023.
He remained Ordinary for Catholics of the Eastern rites in Argentina until his resignation was accepted in November 2023.
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 ...
.
See also
*
Cardinals created by Francis
Pope Francis () created cardinals at ten consistories held at roughly annual intervals beginning in 2014 and for the last time on 7 December 2024. The cardinals created by Francis include 163 cardinals from 76 countries, 25 of which had never been ...