Gugerotti Claudio

Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti was born in Verona on 7 October 1955. After joining the Pious Society of Don Nicola Mazza, he was ordained a priest on 29 May 1982. He obtained a degree in Oriental Languages and Literature from Ca’ Foscari University in Venice, a licentiate in Liturgy from the Pontifical University of Sant’Anselmo, and a doctorate in Oriental Ecclesiastical Sciences from the Pontifical Oriental Institute.

A lecturer and scholar of Eastern Christian traditions, he joined the Congregation for the Oriental Churches in 1985, becoming its undersecretary in 199

Appointed titular archbishop of Ravello in 2001 and consecrated bishop by Saint John Paul II in 2002, he carried out intensive diplomatic work as Apostolic Nuncio to Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and subsequently to Belarus, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

On 21 November 2022, Pope Francis appointed him Prefect of the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches, a post he officially assumed on 16 January 2023. On 30 September 2023, he was created a cardinal. He is regarded as one of the Vatican’s leading experts on the Eastern Christian world and on dialogue between the Churches.