Monsignor Francesco Moraglia
The Patriarch of Venice, Mons. Francesco Moraglia, was born in Genoa in 1953. He was ordained as a priest on 29 June 1977 and obtained his doctorate in Dogmatic Theology. He held the position of professor of theology at the Faculty of Theology of Northern Italy and, from December 1994 to 2007, was Dean of the Ligurian Higher Institute of Religious Sciences. On 6 December 2007 he was elected to the bishopric of Spezia-Sarzana-Brugnato and received the episcopal order on 3 February 2008 in the Cathedral of Genoa from Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco. On 31 January 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Patriarch of Venice and on 25 March 2012 he commenced his episcopal ministry in the Patriarchate. In the same year, he was elected President of the Episcopal Conference of Triveneto, a position he still holds. In 2012, as a synodal father, he participated in the XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Bishops’ Synod on New Evangelising. He is currently a member of the International Council for Catechesis and the Permanent Council of the Italian Episcopal Conference. In February 2023, Pope Francis appointed him a member of the Dicastery for Culture and Education.