Dicastery for the Causes of Saints

Leadership

About Marcello Semeraro

Marcello Semeraro was born on 22 December 1947 in Monteroni di Lecce, in the Province of Lecce, Italy. He was ordained to the priesthood on 8 September 1971 and earned his Doctor of Theology degree in 1980 from the Pontifical Lateran University, where he later taught in 2001. Pope John Paul II appointed him Bishop of Oria on 25 July 1998, and he was consecrated on 29 September 1998 by Archbishop Cosmo Francesco Ruppi. In 2001 Pope John Paul II chose him as Special Secretary of the Synod of Bishops on the role of bishops in contemporary society. On 1 October 2004 he was named Bishop of Albano. He held numerous leadership roles in the Italian Episcopal Conference (IEC), including serving on the IEC Commission for the Doctrine of the Faith and presiding over the administrative board of the Catholic newspaper Avvenire. On 13 April 2013, Pope Francis appointed him Secretary of the Council of Cardinals (the 'C9'), the body advising the Pope on Church governance and curial reform—a position he held until 2020. Pope Francis appointed him Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on 15 October 2020, and created him a Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria in Domnica on 28 November 2020. He participated as a cardinal elector in the 2025 papal conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV.

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Oversees the process that leads to the canonization of saints, passing through declarations of heroic virtue and beatification.

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