Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, a retired progressive Italian prelate and canonist, was once described as a protégé of the late Jesuit Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini and recently became the first ever cardinal to advocate creating a permanent dialogue with Freemasonry.

Born on March 6, 1938, in San Giuliano Milanese, Italy, he was ordained priest on June 29, 1962, by Giovanni Montini, later Pope Paul VI. Coccopalmerio’s educational background is extensive, including a licentiate in theology, a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University, and a doctorate in jurisprudence from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan.

Coccopalmerio’s career in the Catholic Church has been marked by significant appointments and contributions. He served in the Archdiocese of Milan, where he was appointed as an auxiliary bishop in 1993. In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as the President of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, an important position he held until his resignation was accepted by Pope Francis in 2018.

As a canon law expert, Coccopalmerio has been influential in several areas of Church governance. He played a key role in revising procedures for handling clergy sex abuse cases and applicable punishments. He has also been a member of various Vatican congregations, including the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Apostolic Signatura.

Coccopalmerio participated in the 2013 papal conclave that elected Pope Francis. During the pre-conclave meetings, he proposed creating a moderator of the Curia to ensure consistency among Vatican departments as they can often contradict one another. He was also mentioned in the Italian press as a possible papal candidate and even to have become “the most-voted Italian cardinal in the conclave” due to his well-received words on curial reform.

In the 2014 Synod on the Family, Coccopalmerio advocated a more “pastoral approach” to complex family situations, including the possibility of allowing some Catholics in irregular marital situations to receive Holy Communion. After Amoris Laetitia was issued, he published a small booklet that attempted to clarify the document after the controversy it caused over access to Holy Communion for civilly remarried divorcees. The controversy, however, failed to die down and continues to this day.

In 2017, Coccopalmerio’s secretary, Msgr. Luigi Capozzi, was arrested for hosting a licentious, drug-fueled party in a Vatican apartment owned by the cardinal. How much the cardinal knew about the incident remains unknown.

In 2018, it was reported that Coccopalmerio had approached Pope Francis to partially reinstate Don Mauro Inzoli, a priest who had been laicized because of accusations against him of child abuse. The reinstatement turned out to be temporary, as Francis was later forced to defrock Inzoli again after the Italian priest was convicted of child sexual abuse in Italy’s criminal courts.

In 2024, Coccopalmerio became the first cardinal to propose creating a permanent dialogue between the Church and Freemasonry. The proposal drew controversy as the Church has for centuries been firmly opposed to the secret society and banned any Catholic from joining its lodges.