Cardinal Luis Pascual Dri was born on April 17, 1927, in Federación, Entre Ríos Province, Argentina. Growing up in a family where most children consecrated themselves to religious life, Dri worked in the fields from a young age, tending animals and planting crops.

At the age of 11, Dri entered the Capuchin Seminary in January 1938, completing his primary and secondary studies there. He joined the novitiate in Montevideo, Uruguay, and took the Capuchin habit on February 21, 1945. After making his perpetual profession in 1949, Dri was ordained a priest on March 29, 1952, in the Cathedral of Montevideo.

Throughout his career, Dri held various positions within the Church. He served as director of seminaries, including the San Francisco de Carrasco Minor Seminary in 1953 and the Seraphic Seminary in Villa Gdor, Galvez, Argentina, in 1955. He also worked as a master of novices and specialized in Europe as a formator of novices in 1961.

Dri’s ministry included roles as an educator at the Colegio y Liceo Secco Illa de Uruguay from 1962 to 1974 and as a parish priest in several locations, including Empalme, Colonia Nicolich, and Mar del Plata. In 2000, he was appointed parish priest at the Shrine of Nuestra Señora De Pompeya in Buenos Aires for three years.

In 2007, at the age of 80, Dri returned to the Shrine of Nuestra Señora de Pompeya, where he has since devoted himself to hearing confessions for several hours each day. His dedication to the sacrament of reconciliation has earned him recognition from Pope Francis, who has spoken of Dri’s work as a confessor on multiple occasions.

Notably, Dri had the opportunity to meet Padre Pio personally and even had him as his confessor in 1960 when they lived in the same convent. Dri cites Padre Pio and Leopold Mandić as his models and mentors.

On September 30, 2023, at the age of 96, Luis Pascual Dri was made a cardinal by Pope Francis, receiving the title of Cardinal Deacon of Sant’Angelo in Pescheria. Due to his health and age, Dri did not attend the consistory in Rome but received his cardinal’s regalia on October 11 from Archbishop Mirosław Adamczyk, Apostolic Nuncio to Argentina, during a ceremony in the cathedral of Buenos Aires.

Today, Cardinal Dri continues his ministry as a confessor at the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompei in Buenos Aires, where he spends hours each day administering the sacrament of reconciliation, embodying the merciful face of the Church.