Cardinal Beniamino Stella is a progressive retired Vatican diplomat who served as prefect of the Dicastery for Clergy during Pope Francis’ pontificate, overseeing the creation of updated guidelines on the formation of priests.

Born on August 18, 1941, in Pieve di Soligo, Treviso, Italy, Stella was one of twelve siblings in his family. His journey in the Church began with his ordination as priest on March 19, 1966, after completing his studies at the Vittorio Veneto Seminary and the Pontifical Roman Seminary.

Stella’s education includes a degree in canon law from the Pontifical Lateran University and a doctorate in international law from the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. His career in the Church has been marked by numerous significant appointments and roles. In 1970, he began his diplomatic service at the apostolic nunciature in Santo Domingo, followed by a posting in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1973.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Stella held various positions within the Vatican, including work at the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church and as charge d’affaires at the apostolic nunciature in Malta. On August 21, 1987, he was appointed titular archbishop of Midila and apostolic nuncio to the Central-African Republic, Congo Brazzaville, and Chad, receiving his episcopal ordination on September 5, 1987.

Stella’s diplomatic career continued with appointments as apostolic nuncio to Cuba in 1992 and to Colombia in 1999. In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI called him to Rome to serve as president of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy.

A significant milestone in Stella’s career came on September 21, 2013, when Pope Francis appointed him prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy and elevated to the cardinalate. In February 2014.

As prefect of the then-Congregation for Clergy, Cardinal Stella oversaw the development of the new Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis guidelines for priestly formation, which had not been revised since 1985.

Stella favors restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass and was involved in the implementation of Traditionis Custodes. As dicastery prefect, he forbade priests in his dicastery to wear cassocks instead of priest suits.

In a sign of personal favor, in May 2020 Pope Francis promoted Cardinal Stella to the Order of Bishops, assigning him the title of the Suburbicarian Church of Porto-Santa Rufina. Stella stayed on as prefect until a successor could be found. Pope Francis accepted his resignation in 2021 aged nearly 80.