Meet the conclave: Cardinal Pietro Parolin
His path from smalltown Italy to the heights of Vatican power.
Pillar subscribers can listen to this explainer here: The Pillar TL;DR
When Pietro Parolin was nine years old, his father died in a car accident. His sister Maria Rosa Parolin later described the event as “very destabilizing” for her brother. Their father had been a very religious man, whose devotion served as an inspiration for his oldest son.
When Pietro announced his decision to enter seminary, it was no surprise to his family. As a youngster, he had dressed in black and imitated celebrating the Mass, insisting that his siblings, cousins, and friends play along with him. He would always be seen near the front of parish processions and performed so well in catechism classes that he received an award in Rome.
Born in the small northeastern Italian town of Schiavon, Parolin entered seminary at the age of 14 and was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Vicenza in 1980. His sister said that of the roughly 40 students who initially studied alongside him, he was the only one who progressed to ordination.
Parolin’s next stop was the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, the Vatican’s diplomatic training school in Rome.
His first staff posting was in Nigeria, followed by Mexico. In 2002, he was called to the Vatican, to serve as undersecretary of the Secretariat of State, the powerful department overseeing the Holy See’s diplomatic ties. He handled sensitive portfolios, helping the Vatican to reestablish relations with communist Vietnam, through the conciliation approach he would later apply to China.
In 2009, Parolin was named apostolic nuncio to Venezuela, then ruled by the revolutionary Hugo Chávez, who had an antagonistic relationship with the local Church. Four years into the appointment, Parolin received a phone call from the recently elected Pope Francis.
“Will you give me a hand?” the pope asked.
Francis summoned Parolin to serve as Vatican Secretary of State, arguably the most powerful Vatican position after that of pope. Parolin’s predecessor, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, had alienated the Vatican’s old guard, partly because he lacked a traditional diplomatic background. Parolin’s appointment quietened those influential critics, restoring the supremacy of diplomacy at the Secretariat of State.
The prioritization of diplomacy over other considerations, such as human rights advocacy, was evident in the Holy See’s decision to enter a provisional agreement with Beijing in 2018.
The deal, whose terms have never been published, set out a mechanism for appointing bishops, ending a decades-long deadlock over what role the Chinese state should play in nominations.
But the deal was controversial. Hong Kong’s Cardinal Joseph Zen publicly accused Parolin of manipulating Pope Francis regarding China, at the expense of underground Catholics, and sidelining internal Vatican critics of the deal. Parolin defended the pact, arguing that all 21st-century popes had sought such an agreement and it was “only a starting point” in a quest to restore Vatican-China relations.
On Parolin’s watch, the Secretariat of State lost millions of euros on a speculative property deal in London, triggering a sprawling Vatican finance trial and prompting Pope Francis to order the department to relinquish control of its jealously guarded assets. But Parolin avoided being directly tarnished by the financial scandal, continuing to exercise influence across the worldwide Church, including through his membership of the pope’s Council of Cardinal advisers, which helped to create a new blueprint for the Roman Curia that recognized the Secretariat of State’s prerogatives.
As Pope Francis’ Secretary of State, Parolin often played the role of firefighter, dousing diplomatic blazes sparked by the Argentine pontiff’s off-the-cuff comments. Though the Italian cardinal was constantly in the public eye, he revealed little of his personality. He once told the newspaper of his home diocese: “I do what I can but I always do it with my heart.” But he quickly added: “I hope I don’t sound too presumptuous.”
Those who’ve met Parolin say he prefers to be called “Don Pietro” — Fr. Peter. His sister suggested this is because “he is, first and foremost, a priest.”
Maria Rosa described her brother as “a serene man, who knows how to be with people,” recalling a day they spent together in 2014, shopping for bookshelves in Ikea. It was, she said, “an episode of the two of us that I will never forget.”
This was great! I appreciated the family background piece of Parolin’s profile. Helps me to see him as human being.
That being said I still do not know what to think the cardinal. Perhaps that is the reality of being a diplomat, you serve who the current pope is and the institutional Church. If you do your job well, your personality and “stances” are not known publicly because that would undermine your role.
After the Irish referendum that approved same sex marriage, Cardinal Parolin stated that the results of the referendum were “ not only a defeat of Christian principles, but also a defeat if humanity”.
Parolin also wrote to the German Bishops that JP2 ‘s teaching on women’s’ ordination was definitive and not open to debate.
As for Fiducia Supplicans, his response was just stating it was a controversial document and that “the Church is open to the signs of the times; it is attentive to needs that arise, but it also must be faithful to the Gospel, faithful to tradition, faithful to its heritage.”
I don’t think he is in favor of the TLM, which is the default of most Bishops (conservative or liberal) from the JP2 era (or even thr B16 era).
Take from this what you will.