Pietro Cardinal Parolin, Secretary of State, was born in Schiavon (Vicenza) on January 17, 1955. He was ordained a priest on April 27, 1980, and incardinated into the diocese of Vicenza. He holds a degree in canon law.
He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See on the July 1, 1986, beginning work at the pontifical representations in Nigeria and Mexico and at the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State. Cardinal Parolin was appointed Under–Secretary for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State on November 30, 2002.
On August 17, 2009, he was appointed as apostolic nuncio to Venezuela and, at the same time, elevated to the dignity of archbishop and assigned the titular see of Acquapendente. He received Episcopal ordination from Pope Benedict XVI on September 12 of the same year. On August 31, 2013, Pope Francis appointed him as Secretary of State, beginning his mandate on October 15.
Cardinal Parolin is the member of the group of cardinals established to advise Pope Francis in the government of the universal Church and to study a plan for revising the Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia, ‘Pastor Bonus.’
Cardinal Parolin was created and proclaimed Cardinal by Pope Francis in the consistory of February 22, 2014, of the Title of Santi Simone e Giuda Taddeo a Torre Angela. Cardinal Parolin is a member of the Congregations for the Doctrine of the Faith; for the Oriental Churches; for the Evangelization of Peoples; and congregation for Bishops, and Cardinal Commission for the Supervision of the Institute for the Works of Religion (I