Vincenzo Paglia

His Excellency Vincenzo Paglia
President of the Pontifical Academy for Life; Grand Chancellor of the St. John Paul II Pontifical Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family
Church	Roman Catholic Church
Orders
Ordination	15 March 1970 by Angelo Dell'Acqua
Consecration	2 April 2000 by Camillo Ruini
Personal details
Born	20 April 1945 Boville Ernica, Frosinone, Italy
Previous post	Pontifical Council for the Family
Coat of arms

Vincenzo Paglia (born 20 April 1945) is a Roman Catholic archbishop, President of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Grand Chancellor of the St. John Paul II Pontifical Institute for Studies of Marriage and Family and bishop emeritus of the diocese of Terni-Narni-Amelia in Italy. He is also one of the founders of the Community of Sant'Egidio.^[1]

Paglia was born in Boville Ernica, Frosinone, Italy.

He has been responsible for inter-religious dialogue and has opposed a cooling of relations with Jewish leaders.^[2] He was educated at the Pontifical Roman Minor and Major Seminary. He earned a Licentiate in Philosophy as well as a degree in Theology from the Pontifical Lateran University, Rome. He also earned a Master´s degree in Pedagogy from the University of Urbino, Italy.

He was ordained a priest 15 March 1970 for the diocese of Rome, where he first served as a curate in Casal Palocco 1970–1973. Later he was rector of the Church of Sant'Egidio in Trastevere. From 1981 to 2000 he was pastor of the Basilica parish of Santa Maria in Trastevere. He is also Postulator for the cause of canonization of Blessed Óscar Romero, the martyred Archbishop of San Salvador in El Salvador, and of Venerable Father Felix Varela, a Cuban-American priest who ministered in Havana, New York City and St. Augustine, Florida in the Nineteenth Century.

On 4 March 2000 Pope John Paul II appointed him bishop of Terni-Narni-Amelia. He received episcopal consecration in Rome at the Cathedral of St. John Lateran from Cardinal Camillo Ruini as Cardinal Vicar, on 2 April and took possession of the diocese on 16 April.

In September 2002 he was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as President of the International Catholic Biblical Federation. From 2004 to 2009 he was chairman of the Commission for Ecumenism and Dialogue of the Italian Episcopal Conference, from 2009 until 2012 was the president of the Episcopal Conference of Umbria.

He was Chaplain of the Community of Sant'Egidio.

As President of the Conference of Bishops of Umbria, he promoted the Solidarity Fund, an initiative that provides economic support for families particularly affected by the recent economic crisis.

Among Archbishop Paglia's international commitments his work for Albania deserves special mention. He was the first priest to enter the country after the free elections in March 1991. He obtained the re-opening of the seminary and the return of the cathedral, and he paved the way for relations between Albania and the Holy See.

In 2011 Bishop Paglia was named one of the first members, for a five-year renewable term, of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization.

He was named President of the Pontifical Council for the Family on 26 June 2012.^[3]

In February 2013 he noted in an interview that homosexual couples should be safe from unjust discrimination in countries where homosexual acts are illegal. Some media reported that statement as a possible signal of change in the Catholic Church teaching on homosexuality. A few days later in a Vatican press conference Archbishop Paglia spoke of his surprise at that interpretation and said that his words were not in any way to be taken as a change in church doctrine on marriage and homosexuality, as demonstrated by the fact that he merely restated the official teaching of the Church.^[4]

As President of the Pontifical Council for the Family he was responsible for the Church's World Meetings of Families, triennial celebrations of the role of the family as a resource for all humanity.

In May 2015, certain media outlets reported that he was part of an investigation into possible irregularities in a failed land transaction in his diocese, but on 21 September 2015 the court having jurisdiction in the matter closed. the investigation in his regard saying that the investigation had shown that he had had no involvement whatsoever in the matter and that, to the contrary, the investigation confirmed that "in carrying out his pastoral ministry his sole and praiseworthy objective was always the social and cultural revitalization of the city."^[5]

His tenure as head of the Pontifical Council on the Family ended when that department's functions were taken over by the new Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life on September 1, 2016. At the same time, Pope Francis named the archbishop as President of the Pontifical Academy for Life as well as Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family.

References

1. "Vincenzo Paglia". Diocesi di Terni Narni Amelia. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
2. AP article (not available)
3. "Rinunce e nomine, 26. giugno 2012" (in Italian). Press Office of the Holy See. 26 June 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
4. "Vatican backtracks on support for gay couples, 07. february 2013". National Catholic Reporter. 7 February 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2013.

External links

• Vincenzo Paglia. Diocese of Terni. 2012.
• Vincenzo Paglia. "Saint Valentine's Message".Washington Post, February 15, 2007.
• Catholic Hierarchy page