Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

He was born in Boville Ernica, in the province of Frosinone, on April 21, 1945. He attended the Roman Seminary and graduated in theology from the Lateran University, where he also received a licentiate in philosophy; he then earned a degree in pedagogy from the University of Urbino.

He was ordained a priest on March 15, 1970 incardinating in the diocese of Rome, where he was assistant pastor in Casal Palocco from 1970 to 1973. He was later rector of the Church of Sant'Egidio in Trastevere.

From 1981 to 2000 he was pastor at the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere and prefect of the third prefecture of Rome. He was longtime secretary of the Regional Presbyteral Commission and member of the Italian Presbyteral Commission. He was also appointed postulator of the cause of beatification of Bishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero of San Salvador.

On April 2, 2000, he was ordained bishop of Terni Narni Amelia in the Cathedral of St. John Lateran and entered the diocese on April 16.

He served from 2002 to 2014 as president of the International Catholic Bible Federation.

From 2004 to 2009 he was president of the Italian Bishops' Conference's Commission on Ecumenism and Dialogue, and from 2009 to 2012 he was president of the Umbrian Bishops' Conference.

At the Umbrian Bishops' Conference he was also president of the Council for Social Problems, Labor, Justice and Peace, president of the Commission for Cultural Heritage and president of the Commission for Culture and Social Communications.

He has been General Ecclesiastical Assistant of the Community of Sant'Egidio, which he has followed since the early 1970s, and is president of Family International Monitor.

Bishop Vincenzo Paglia Actively participates in the “Men and Religions” Association of the Community of Sant'Egidio, which organizes ecumenical and interreligious meetings. He played an important role in the international meeting held in Bucharest, which enabled the Pope's trip to Romania, the first Orthodox country to be visited by John Paul II, and worked for Patriarch Teoctist's visit to Rome. He also facilitated the awarding of an honorary degree to Metropolitan Kirill, head of the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church, who later became Patriarch of Moscow.

He followed the Balkan situation with particular care. He was the first priest allowed to enter Albania even before the first free elections in March 1991 and a member of the Pontifical Delegation for the first Pastoral Visit to Albania, and in this capacity he obtained the reopening of the Seminary and the return of the Shkodra Cathedral, which he restored and restored to worship; he also initiated diplomatic relations between Albania and the Holy See. His action was particularly challenging in matters relating to Kosovo. He succeeded in achieving the only agreement between Milosevic and Rugova for the normalization of the school-education system in the region. He also secured Rugova's release to the West during the 1999 war.

For his commitment to peace, Bishop Vincenzo Paglia, has received the Gandhi Medal from UNESCO, the Mother Teresa Award from the Albanian government, the Ibrahim Rugova Award from the government of Kosovo, and the “Noble Amigo” honor from the government of El Salvador.

He was also awarded in 2004 the Golden Valentine's Day, in 2005 the City of Orvieto Dialogue Prize and in 2006 the Grinzane Terra d'Otranto Prize and the “III centenary of St. Danilo Prince of Moscow” presented to him by Patriarch Alexis, while in 2010 he received the “Ernest Hemingway Lignano Sabbiadoro” award.

A member of the Lazio Order of Journalists, he collaborates with magazines, newspapers, and radio and television programs.

He has collaborated on the chair of Contemporary History at Sapienza University in Rome and has published studies and articles on social and religious history as well as the history of poverty. Significant are his studies on the dialogue between believers and secularists. In addition, there are numerous volumes on religious-pastoral issues.

At the Presidency of the Bishops' Conference of Umbria promoted the Solidarity Fund, an initiative aimed at raising funds to support families particularly affected by the recent economic crisis.

In Terni, he published and distributed free of charge the annotated texts of the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Catholic Epistles, and energetically promoted a renewed season of commissioning Contemporary Sacred Art works

As successor to Valentine's Day, Bishop Vincenzo Paglia, has promoted throughout Italy the Feast of the Promise, a celebration held around Feb. 14 and dedicated to engaged couples who will celebrate marriage within the year, and which in 2014 he also brought to St. Peter's Square with Pope Francis.

In 2005, he founded the film festival Popoli e Religioni in Terni, which has become one of the most important film festivals in the world dedicated to interreligious dialogue, has been awarded the Medal of the President of the Republic, awards the Fuoricampo prize along with the Tertio Millenio and Religion Today festivals, and is among the promoters of the International Table of Spiritual Film Festivals.

On June 26, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI elevated him to the dignity of archbishop and appointed him president of the Pontifical Council for the Family.

On Aug. 15, 2016, at the same time that the Pontifical Council for the Family was merged with the new dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, Pope Francis appointed him President of the Pontifical Academy for Life and Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for the Sciences of Marriage and the Family.

He was appointed a member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples on October 4, 2017, and a member of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on January 11, 2018.

With the Pontifical Academy for Life, he was a promoter, in February 2020, of the Rome Call which proposes an ethics of robotics and artificial intelligence.

In 2020, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia was appointed by the Italian government's Minister of Health as chairman of the Commission for the Reform of Health and Social Care for the Elderly Population.