Pope Leo XIV has appointed Cardinal Baldassare Reina as grand chancellor of the Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences, the Holy See has announced.
Born in Sicily in 1970, Reina entered the minor seminary at the age of 11. Ordained a priest in 1995, he later served as rector of the seminary of the Archdiocese of Agrigento for nine years, in addition to holding various pastoral and educational posts.
In May 2022, Pope Francis appointed him titular Bishop of Acquae in Mauretania and auxiliary bishop of Rome. In April 2024, he became vicar-general of the Diocese of Rome. On 7 December 2024, Pope Francis made him a cardinal.
He replaces Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, who had been widely criticised for remarks interpreted as supportive of physician-assisted suicide.
Speaking at the Perugia Journalism Festival in 2023, the archbishop said: “Personally, I would not practise assisted suicide, but I understand that legal mediation can constitute the greatest common good concretely possible in the conditions in which we find ourselves.”
Two controversial books, which appeared to eschew Catholic teaching on matters of life, were produced by the Institute under Paglia’s tenure. Renowned papal biographer George Weigel said the Institute was betraying “the intention of the saint and scholar [John Paul II] who founded it”.
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