Pietro Parolin

Pietro Parolin was born on 17 January 1955 in Schiavon, in the province and diocese of Vicenza, Italy. He entered the Vicenza seminary at 14 and was ordained a priest on 27 April 1980. After two years as an assistant parish priest in Schio, he studied in Rome at the Pontifical Gregorian University, earning a degree in canon law in 1986, and entered the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in 1983. In the Holy See's diplomatic service from 1986, he served in the pontifical representations in Nigeria and Mexico and then in the Section for Relations with States. On 30 November 2002 John Paul II appointed him Undersecretary for Relations with States, a role in which he worked notably on relations with Vietnam and Israel. On 17 August 2009 Benedict XVI named him titular Archbishop of Acquapendente and Apostolic Nuncio to Venezuela, ordaining him bishop on 12 September 2009. On 31 August 2013 Pope Francis appointed him Secretary of State, effective 15 October 2013, and created him a cardinal at the Consistory of 22 February 2014, with the title of Santi Simone e Giuda Taddeo a Torre Angela. Since 26 June 2018 he has been co-opted into the Order of Bishops. He is a member of the Council of Cardinals.