Pietro Parolin is an Italian Catholic prelate who has served as the Vatican's Secretary of State since 2013 and as a member of the Council of Cardinals since 2014, the same year he was made a cardinal. As the most senior cardinal bishop under the age of 80, he presided over the 2025 papal conclave.

Before his tenure as secretary of state, Parolin worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See for 30 years, where his assignments included terms in Nigeria, Mexico and Venezuela, as well as more than six years as Undersecretary of State for Relations with States. Parolin set the Vatican's foreign policy stances under Pope Francis. Positions taken by Parolin include denouncing Israel and its actions in Gaza, calling for a halt in war crimes and protection of citizens. He criticized Donald Trump's Gaza Strip proposal, saying that "whoever was born and has lived in Gaza must remain on their land". Parolin was one of the primary architects of the Vatican's 2018 agreement with China, which allows the pope to approve and veto bishops approved by the Chinese Communist Party. He has supported the cause of refugees and criticized the rise of nationalism, populism, and anti-immigration politics in Europe. During the 2025 papal conclave, Parolin has been called papabile, a leading candidate to succeed Francis. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

• Wikipedia: Pietro Parolin

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietro_Parolin

Pietro Parolin (Schiavon, 17 gennaio 1955) è un cardinale e arcivescovo cattolico italiano, dal 15 ottobre 2013 segretario di Stato della Santa Sede.