Apostolic Penitentiary

Leadership

About Angelo de Donatis

Angelo De Donatis was born on 16 October 1954 in Casarano, Province of Lecce, in the Puglia region of Italy. He was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Ugento-Santa Maria di Leuca on 16 March 1980. He earned his doctorate in spiritual theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University and became a recognized retreat director, spiritual director, and theologian.

Pope Francis appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of Rome on 10 October 2015, with responsibility for the central sector of Rome. On 26 June 2017, Pope Francis appointed him Vicar General of Rome—the Pope's personal representative for the Diocese of Rome—and on 28 June 2018 created him a Cardinal-Priest of Sant'Ignazio di Loyola a Campo Marte. He was widely expected to be a cardinal elector in any near-term conclave and was considered a possible candidate for the papacy in some pre-conclave analyses.

On 12 March 2024, Pope Francis transferred De Donatis to the Roman Curia, appointing him Major Penitentiary—head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, one of the three tribunals of the Holy See. The Major Penitentiary holds the unique power to absolve the most serious reserved censures and governs the Church's internal forum on matters of conscience, indulgences, and excommunications. He participated in the 2025 conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV.

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About

One of three tribunals. Has jurisdiction over matters in the internal forum: absolution of reserved excommunications, dispensation of reserved sacramental impediments, and governance of indulgences.

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