{{short description|Italian prelate of the Catholic Church (born 1947)}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Cardinal | honorific_prefix = [[His Eminence]] | name = Marcello Semeraro | title = [[Congregation for the Causes of Saints|Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints]] | image = Semeraro Udienza 20170504.jpg | alt = | caption = Semeraro in 2017 | church = [[Roman Catholic Church]] | archdiocese = | diocese = | see = [[Santa Maria in Domnica]] | term = | predecessor = [[Giovanni Angelo Becciu]] | successor = | appointed = 15 October 2020 | other_post = {{unbulleted list||[[Grottaferrata|Apostolic Administrator of Santa Maria di Grottaferrata]] (2013–)|[[Italian Basilian Order of Grottaferrata|Pontifical Delegate for the Italian Basilian Order of Grottaferrata]] (2016–)|[[Santa Maria in Domnica|Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria in Domnica]] (2020–)}} <!-- Orders --> | ordination = 8 September 1971 | ordained_by = [[Francesco Minerva]] | consecration = 29 September 1998 | consecrated_by = [[Cosmo Francesco Ruppi]] | cardinal = 28 November 2020 | created_cardinal_by = [[Pope Francis|Francis]] | rank = Cardinal-Deacon | birth_name = Marcello Semeraro | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1947|12|22|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Monteroni di Lecce]], [[Province of Lecce|Lecce]], [[Italy]] | death_date = | death_place = | previous_post = {{unbulleted list|[[Bishop of Oria]] (1998–2004)|[[Roman Catholic Suburbicarian Diocese of Albano|Bishop of Albano]] (2004–2020)|[[Council of Cardinal Advisers|Secretary of the Council of Cardinals]] (2013–2020)}} | alma_mater = [[Pontifical Lateran University]] | motto = ''In spiritu seminare'' | coat_of_arms = [[File:Coat of arms of Marcello Semeraro (cardinal).svg|150px]] }}
'''Marcello Semeraro''' (born 22 December 1947) is an [[Catholic Church in Italy|Italian Catholic]] prelate who has served as prefect of the [[Dicastery for the Causes of Saints]] since 2020. He was previously [[Suburbicarian Diocese of Albano|Bishop of Albano]] and secretary to the [[Council of Cardinal Advisers|College of Cardinals]]. [[Pope Francis]] made him a [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|cardinal]] in 2020.
==Biography== Semeraro was born in [[Monteroni di Lecce]], [[Province of Lecce]], Italy. He was ordained to the priesthood on 8 September 1971. He received his Doctor of Theology degree in 1980 from the [[Pontifical Lateran University]]. On 25 July 1998 he was named [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Oria|Bishop of Oria]]. He was consecrated on 29 September 1998 by Archbishop [[Cosmo Francesco Ruppi]] with Archbishops Domenico Caliandro and Donato Negro as co-consecrators.
He taught at the [[Pontifical Lateran University]] in 2001. [[Pope John Paul II]] chose him as Special Secretary of the 2001 [[Synod of Bishops (Catholic)|Synod of Bishops]],<ref>{{cite web|title=X Ordinary General Assembly (30 September-27 October 2001) |url=http://press.catholica.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/sinodo_indice_en.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110219231945/http://press.catholica.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/sinodo_indice_en.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 February 2011|work=Synod of Bishops|publisher=Holy See|access-date=14 April 2013}}</ref> which considered the role of the bishops in contemporary society. That Synod's final statement pointed to social injustice as the root cause of terrorism and decried third world debt and "the enduring drama of hunger and extreme poverty". Semeraro commented: "There is a strong will to dismantle the image of bishops as men of power and to reinstitute the image of bishops as men of service."<ref>{{cite news|last=Henneberger|first=Melinda|title=Social Justice And Terror Offer Bishops Tough Issue|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/28/world/social-justice-and-terror-offer-bishops-tough-issue.html|access-date=14 April 2013|newspaper=New York Times|date=28 October 2001}}</ref>
On 1 October 2004 he was named Bishop of Albano.
He is a Consultant to the [[Congregation for the Clergy]] and the [[Italian Episcopal Conference]] (IEC), and a member of the IEC Commission for the Doctrine of the Faith.
On 4 May 2007 he was elected president of the administrative board of the IEC newspaper ''[[Avvenire]]'', in place of Cardinal [[Angelo Bagnasco]] of Genoa, who had been elected president of the IEC.
In June 2010, he became president of the IEC Commission for the Doctrine of the Faith.
On 13 April 2013 Pope Francis appointed him secretary of the commission of cardinals appointed to advise him on the government of the Church and the organization of the Roman Curia.<ref>{{cite news|last=O'Connell|first=Gerard|title=Pope Francis sets up a group of eight cardinals to advise him |url=http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/francesco-francis-francisco-24044/|access-date=14 April 2013|newspaper=La Stampa: Vatican Insider|date=14 April 2013}}</ref>
On 4 November 2013, Pope Francis appointed him Apostolic Administrator of the Exarchic Monastery and [[Territorial Abbacy of Saint Mary of Grottaferrata]].<ref>{{cite press release | publisher= Holy See Press Office | access-date= 24 October 2020 | date= 4 November 2013 | url= https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2013/11/04/0720/01611.html | title= Rinunce e Nomine, 04.11.2013 | language=it }}</ref>
In a 2017 interview, Semeraro described the work of the Council of Cardinals: listening, reflecting, and verifying. The Council, he said, listens to the contributions of the Church; reflects on those contributions, and looks into the details of them, considering the best way of going forward. It then makes proposals to the Pope; as Semeraro explained, the Council has a consultative role.<ref>[https://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/11/pope_francis_and_the_c9_interview_with_council_secretary/1336057 Interview with Council Secretary]</ref>
On 15 October 2020, Pope Francis appointed him Prefect of the [[Congregation for the Causes of Saints]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Nomina del Prefetto della Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi|url=https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2020/10/15/0526/01220.html|access-date=15 October 2020|newspaper=Bolletino sala Stampa della Santa Sede|date=15 October 2020}}</ref>
On 25 October 2020, Pope Francis announced he would raise him to the rank of [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|cardinal]] at a consistory scheduled for 28 November 2020.<ref>{{cite news| access-date=25 October 2020 | date= 25 October 2020 | url= https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2020/10/25/pope-francis-new-cardinals-wilton-gregory-washington | title= Pope Francis names 13 new cardinals, including Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington D.C. | first=Gerard | last= O'Connell | publisher =[[America (magazine)|America]] }}</ref> At that consistory, Francis made him Cardinal-Deacon of [[Santa Maria in Domnica]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Concistoro Ordinario Pubblico: Assegnazione dei Titoli, 28.11.2020| language = it |date=28 November 2020 |website=[[Holy See Press Office]]|access-date=28 November 2020| url= https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2020/11/28/0618/01449.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201128155120/https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2020/11/28/0618/01449.html|archive-date= 28 November 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> On 16 December he was named a member of the [[Congregation for Oriental Churches]] and the [[Dicastery for Communications]].<ref>{{cite press release | access-date = 16 December 2020 | date= 16 December 2020 | publisher = Holy See Press Office | title = Resignations and Appointments, 16.12.2020 | url =https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2020/12/16/201216a.html}}</ref>
He participated as a [[Cardinal electors in the 2025 papal conclave|cardinal elector]] in the [[2025 papal conclave]] that elected [[Pope Leo XIV]].<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/scardc3.html| title=Cardinal Electors|date=6 May 2025|publisher=Catholic-Hierarchy.org|language=en|access-date=6 May 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250506193115/https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/scardc3.html|archive-date=6 May 2025|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Works== * {{in lang|it}} ''Mistero, comunione e missione - Manuale di ecclesiologia'' (Bologna, 2004)<ref>{{cite web|title=Nota al testo di M. Semeraro, "Mistero, comunione e missione"|date=27 April 2012 |url=https://lacasadimiriam.altervista.org/ecclesiologia/nota-al-testo-di-m-semeraro-mistero-comunione-e-missione/|publisher=La Casa di Miriam Torino|access-date=15 April 2013|language=it}}</ref> * {{in lang|it}} ''Dalla Parte del Padre'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2010)<ref>{{cite book|title=Dalla Parte del Padre|url=https://www.libreriadelsanto.it/libri/9788820984144/dalla-parte-del-padre.html|publisher=Libreria del Santo|access-date=15 April 2013|language=it}}</ref>
==See also== *[[Cardinals created by Pope Francis]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{wikiquote}} {{commonscat}}
* {{cite web|url=https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/documentation/cardinali_biografie/cardinali_bio_semeraro_m.html|title=Semeraro Card. Marcello|website=[[Holy See Press Office]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129021903/https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/documentation/cardinali_biografie/cardinali_bio_semeraro_m.html|archive-date=29 November 2020|url-status=live}}
{{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{s-bef|before=[[Armando Franco]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Oria|Bishop of Oria]]|years=25 July 1998 – 1 October 2004}} {{s-aft|after=[[Michele Castoro]]}} {{s-break}} {{s-bef|before=[[Agostino Vallini]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Roman Catholic Suburbicarian Diocese of Albano|Bishop of Albano Laziale]]|years=1 October 2004 – 15 October 2020}} {{s-aft|after=Vincenzo Viva}} {{s-break}} {{s-bef|before=[[Giovanni Angelo Becciu]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Congregation for the Causes of Saints|Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints]]|years=15 October 2020 – present}} {{s-inc|rows=2}} {{s-break}} {{s-bef|before=[[William Joseph Levada]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Santa Maria in Domnica|Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria in Domnica]]|years=28 November 2020 – present}} {{s-end}}
{{Cardinals of the Catholic Church}} {{Cardinals created by Francis}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Semeraro, Marcello}} [[Category:1947 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:21st-century Italian cardinals]] [[Category:21st-century Italian male writers]] [[Category:21st-century Italian non-fiction writers]] [[Category:21st-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops]] [[Category:Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II]] [[Category:Bishops in Lazio]] [[Category:Cardinals created by Pope Francis]] [[Category:Italian male non-fiction writers]] [[Category:Italian Roman Catholic writers]] [[Category:Members of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints]] [[Category:Pontifical Lateran University alumni]]