At the Angelus on 6 October, Fr Fabio Baggio CS was named among the new Cardinals by Pope Francis. The Undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (DPIHD) and Director of Borgo Laudato Si’ and the Laudato Si’ Centre for Higher Education, will receive the purple on 8 December during the Consistory announced by the Holy Father.
“I am happy to announce that on 8 December I will hold a Consistory for the creation of new Cardinals. Their origin expresses the universality of the Church, which continues to proclaim God's merciful love for all people on earth. The inclusion of the new Cardinals in the Diocese of Rome, moreover, manifests the inseparable bond between the See of Peter and the particular Churches spread throughout the world”.
With these words, Pope Francis, at the Angelus on 6 October, announced the names of 21 new Cardinals coming from various parts of the world. This was unexpected news for Fr Baggio, who declared, “A nice surprise!”. The Undersecretary also expressed his gratitude to the Holy Father for “the trust granted” and affirmed that “this appointment is a great responsibility, but also an opportunity to continue to serve the Church closely, starting from her heart to reach out to the peripheries.”
Fr Baggio, originally from Bassano del Grappa (Italy), is a Scalabrinian missionary. Over the years he has been, among others, a Counsellor of the Chilean Episcopal Commission for Migration (INCAMI), Director of the Migration Department of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, and Director of the Scalabrini Migration Centre (SMC) in Manila, Philippines. He was also National Secretary of the Work of the Propagation of the Faith, Pontifical Mission Societies of Argentina.
Since January 2017, he has held the position of Undersecretary of the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and on 23 April 2022, the Holy Father appointed him Undersecretary of the same Dicastery.