Cardinal Pietro Parolin

Secretary of State

Cardinal Pietro Parolin was born in Schiavon (Italy) on January 17, 1955. He was ordained as a priest on April 27, 1980 in Vicenza, his diocese of origin and, after spending several years at the pastoral ministry, he began studying law. He completed his studies in 1986, graduating with a Degree in Canon Law from the Pontifical Gregorian University and a diploma in Diplomatic Sciences from the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, where he had begun studying in 1983. Joining the Diplomatic Service of the Holy See in 1986, he offered his services at the Apostolic Nunciatures in Nigeria and Mexico, and, for 17 years, in the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State, later becoming Undersecretary (2002-2009). In August 2009, he was appointed Titular Archbishop of Aquipendium and Apostolic Nuncio to Venezuela. In August 2013, he was made Secretary of State by His Holiness Pope Francis, who has also invited him to join the College of Cardinals in the Papal Consistory on February 22, 2014.