Matteo Maria Zuppi | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Bologna | |
 Zuppi in 2025 | |
| Church | Roman Catholic Church |
| Archdiocese | Bologna |
| See | Bologna |
| Appointed | 27 October 2015 |
| Installed | 12 December 2015 |
| Predecessor | Carlo Caffarra |
| Other posts | |
| Previous posts |
|
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 9 May 1981 by Renato Spallanzani |
| Consecration | 14 April 2012 by Agostino Vallini |
| Created cardinal | 5 October 2019 byPope Francis |
| Rank | Cardinal-Priest |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Matteo Maria Zuppi (1955-10-11)11 October 1955 (age 70) Rome, Italy |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Alma mater | Pontifical Lateran University Sapienza University of Rome |
| Motto | Gaudium Domini fortitudo vestra (The joy of the Lord is your strength) |
| Coat of arms | .svg) |
Matteo Maria Zuppi ([matˈtɛːomaˈriːatˈtsuppi,-dˈdzuppi]; born 11 October 1955) is anItalian Roman Catholic prelate who has served asArchbishop of Bologna since 2015. He was previously anauxiliary bishop of Rome from 2012 to 2015.
Pope Francis made him acardinal in 2019. He has been president of theEpiscopal Conference of Italy since 2022. During this time, Zuppi opposedright-wing populism,nationalism andanti-immigrant beliefs, emphasizing Europe's moral duty towelcome migrants. These views resulted in clashes withMatteo Salvini, leader of Italy'sLega Party, alongside other individuals of theItalian right.[1] He was a voice of support for the2018 Vatican-China Agreement, which allows the pope to approve and veto bishops approved by theChinese Communist Party. He has written three books on Catholicism and additionally contributed an essay to the Italian translation ofJames Martin'sBuilding a Bridge. As a close associate of Pope Francis, who supported many of his initiatives, Zuppi was seen as aleading contender in the2025 papal conclave.[2][3]
Born in Rome on 11 October 1955, he is the fifth of six children of the journalistEnrico Zuppi, and Carla Fumagalli (d. 2004),[4] niece of CardinalCarlo Confalonieri.[citation needed] He attended the Liceo Virgilio there[5] and then he studied at the seminary inPalestrina and earned hisBachelor of Sacred Theology at thePontifical Lateran University in Rome. He earned alaurea at theSapienza University of Rome, writing his thesis on the history of Christianity. He was ordained a priest of theDiocese of Palestrina on 9 May 1981 and in that year was appointed as the parochial vicar ofBasilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere underVincenzo Paglia, whom he succeeded as pastor of the church, serving from 2000 to 2010.[6][7] He was incardinated into the Archdiocese of Rome in 1988.[7]
He worked with theCommunity of Sant'Egidio, a Catholic lay association devoted to ecumenism and conflict resolution.[8] Zuppi was one of the four mediators of the two-year-long Rome-based peace negotiations that resulted in theRome General Peace Accords and helped end the civil war inMozambique in 1992,[9][10] in recognition of which he was made an honorary citizen of that country.[11] Zuppi also traveled to Turkey in 1993 in an attempt to secure the release of two Italian tourists held by Kurdish rebels.[12]
On 31 January 2012,Pope Benedict XVI named him an Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Rome and titular bishop ofVilla Nova.[7] He was ordained a bishop on 14 April 2012 by CardinalAgostino Vallini,Vicar General of theDiocese of Rome. He was the auxiliary responsible for the city center, including theTrastevere neighborhood where Sant'Egidio is headquartered. There he led efforts to improve care for the poor and the elderly and developed outreach programs for drug addicts and Romani.[11] He also established relations with traditionalists and celebrated aPontifical Mass according to theTridentine rite.[13]
Pope Francis appointed him Archbishop ofBologna on 27 October 2015.[14]
On 1 September 2019 Pope Francis announced that he planned to create Zuppi a cardinal on 5 October; he was the first head of an Italian see traditionally headed by a cardinal to be named a cardinal by Francis.[citation needed] On 5 October 2019, Pope Francis made himCardinal-Priest ofSant'Egidio.[15] He was made a member of theDicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development on 21 February 2020,[16] and a member of theAdministration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See on 18 April 2020.[17]
On 14 January 2022, at theBasilica of St. Mary of the Angels and of the Martyrs in Rome, Zuppi presided over the state funeral ofDavid Sassoli, his personal friend since adolescence andPresident of the European Parliament, who died on 11 January due to amultiple myeloma.[18][19]
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On 24 May 2022, Pope Francis, having been presented by the Conference with three candidates for the post, chose Zuppi to serve a five-year term as president of theEpiscopal Conference of Italy.[20][21]
In June 2022 Cardinal Zuppi was accused of hiding what critics called blessing a gay couple after their civil wedding. The editor of the Italian conservative Catholiconline newspaper said the Archdiocese of Bologna made a number of false claims in a statement attempting to justify the ceremony. The "blessing" of Pietro Morotti and Giacomo Spagnolli took place in the presence of six priests at the church of San Lorenzo di Budrio. Cardinal Zuppi was not present, and had no part in the ceremony.[22]
In 2023 Pope Francis asked Cardinal Zuppi to carry out a peace mission to try to help end theRussian invasion of Ukraine. Zuppi met PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy; he did not meet PresidentVladimir Putin,[23] but he did meet withPatriarch Kirill of Moscow.[24] In July 2023, he flew to the United States to meet with PresidentJoe Biden.[25]
Cardinal Zuppi visited Moscow in October 2024 to promote humanitarian collaboration amid the ongoing conflict.[26]
Cardinal Zuppi met again with Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the funeral of Pope Francis in April 2025 to discuss facilitating the return of Ukrainian children illegally deported from Russia as well as the release of prisoners.[27]
In May 2018, he contributed an essay to the Italian translation ofJames Martin'sBuilding a Bridge,Un ponte da costruire. He wrote that it was "useful for encouraging dialogue, as well as reciprocal knowledge and understanding, in view of a new pastoral attitude that we must seek together with ourLGBT brothers and sisters" and that it will "help LGBT. Catholics feel more at home in what is, after all, their church".[28][29] In 2024 Zuppi defendedFiducia supplicans, explaining:[30][31]
[The document] is set within the horizon of mercy, of the Church's loving gaze upon all God's children, without however departing from the teachings of theMagisterium. [...] God wants everyone to be saved. It is therefore the Church's duty to care for each and every one. We cannot forget that all the baptised enjoy the full dignity of "sons of God" and, as such, are our brothers and sisters. There is no questioning the meaning of the Sacrament of Marriage.
Zuppi does not exclude the possibility of making priestly celibacy optional, noting that there are already married priests within the Catholic hierarchy: "If you go to Ukraine or Romania, the priests of the Byzantine rite communities, but linked to Rome, are already there...so it is a discipline that can be changed."[32]
He also supports the2018 Vatican-China Agreement, which allows the pope to approve and veto bishops approved by theChinese Communist Party. As Francis' "personal peace envoy", Zuppi met with Chinese officials in regards to theRussian invasion of Ukraine and established "cordial" conversations with them.[33]
Zuppi has spoken vociferously againstnationalism and for the benefits ofpro-Europeanism, noting in March 2025 that "only a united Europe can preserve European humanism...Today the evil of nationalism wears new clothes...[and is] in contradiction with the Gospel."[34] Zuppi has also emphasized the need to welcome migrants, exploring in his 2019 bookOdierai il prossimo tuo come te stesso the root causes of the opposition to recent mass migration in Europe: fear, individualism, and an unwillingness to see the "Other" as one's brother. These views have often resulted in clashes withMatteo Salvini, leader of theright-wing populistLega Party.[1]
Quotations related toMatteo Zuppi at Wikiquote| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Titular Bishop of Villa Nova 31 January 2012 – 27 October 2015 | Succeeded by Mirosław Milewski |
| Preceded by | Archbishop of Bologna 27 October 2015 – | Incumbent |
| New title | Cardinal-Priest of Sant'Egidio 5 October 2019 – | |
| Preceded by | President of theItalian Episcopal Conference 24 May 2022 – present | |
