Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa is an Italian Capuchin Franciscan theologian who from 1980 to 2024 served as the Preacher to the Papal Household, providing meditations during Lent and Advent and at key events for the Pope and senior Vatican officials.

Born on July 22, 1934, in Colli del Tronto, Italy, he was ordained as a priest in the Franciscan Capuchin order in 1958 and holds doctoral degrees in theology and classical literature.

Cardinal Cantalamessa served as a professor of ancient Christian history and director of the Department of Religious Sciences at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan until 1979 when he decided to devote himself full time to preaching.

In 1980, Pope John Paul II appointed him as the Preacher to the Papal Household, a position he has held under three popes: John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis. In this role, he provides weekly meditations to the Pope and other high-ranking officials during Lent and Advent.

Cantalamessa made significant contributions to theology, spirituality, and ecumenical dialogue. He is a member of the Catholic Delegation for the Dialogue with the Pentecostal Churches and has been a proponent of the Catholic charismatic renewal. His teachings and writings have been widely influential, with many of his books on spirituality translated into approximately twenty languages.

On November 28, 2020, Pope Francis elevated Cantalamessa to the rank of cardinal, making him Cardinal-Deacon of Sant’Apollinare alle Terme Neroniane-Alessandrine. Notably, at his request, Pope Francis granted him dispensation from the requirement to be consecrated a bishop. Due to his age (over 80 at the time of elevation), Cantalamessa is not eligible to participate in papal conclaves as a cardinal elector.

Before the 2005 and 2013 papal conclaves, Cantalamessa was requested by the College of Cardinals to deliver one of the two public exhortations that introduce the conclave. This demonstrates the high regard in which he is held within the Church hierarchy.

In December 2006, Cantalamessa urged Pope Benedict in an Advent sermon to declare a day of fasting and penitence in response to child sex crimes by clergy in the Roman Catholic Church.

In 2010, Cantalamessa caused controversy with his Good Friday sermon in St. Peter’s Basilica when he drew parallels between the media coverage of alleged child abuse scandals in the Catholic Church and anti-Semitism – a parallel that actually came from a Jewish friend of Father Cantalamessa. He reportedly implied that the sensational coverage of alleged child abuse and cover-ups within the Roman Catholic Church was evidence of anti-Catholicism, and bore similarities to the “more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism.” The Vatican later clarified that Cantalamessa was not speaking as an official representative of the Church and that his comparison could lead to misunderstandings.

In 2013, then-Father Cantalamessa preached in favor of clearing away “the residue of past ceremonials, laws and disputes, now only debris.” He referred to St. Francis of Assisi as exemplifying the creative destroyer of ecclesial traditions.¹“As happens with certain old buildings, over the centuries, to adapt to the needs of the moment, they become filled with partitions, staircases, rooms and closets. The time comes when we realize that all these adjustments no longer meet the current needs, but rather are an obstacle, so we must have the courage to knock them down and return the building to the simplicity and linearity of its origins. This was the mission that was received one day by a man who prayed before the Crucifix of San Damiano: “Go, Francis, and repair my Church.”