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He’s a musician and composer, a great promoter of welcoming migrants, and the architect of the Vatican's Laudato si' ecological center. Fr. Fabio Baggio, undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, is also a long-standing friend of Pope Francis.
At the next consistory, the Italian will be one of three new cardinals who work in the Roman Curia, along with Fr. George Jacob Koovakad and Archbishop Rolandas Makrickas.
Promoted to cardinal even though up to now he’s only a priest (not yet a bishop), Fabio Baggio finds himself in the same position as his predecessor in his current post, Michael Czerny. According to Vatican sources consulted by I.MEDIA, the pope is considering him to succeed the Canadian Jesuit as head of the dicastery responsible for ecological and humanitarian issues.
Unlike most of Pope Francis' cardinals, who learn of their appointment by surprise, Father Baggio had been forewarned. Indeed, the Pope himself revealed, during an audience a few days after the announcement, that he had already discussed the prospect with him. Fr. Baggio resisted the proposal. “I always tried to decline... In the end, the Pope decided otherwise,” the priest recently told I.MEDIA.
An early vocation
Born in Bassano del Grappa in 1965, the Italian grew up in a Catholic family with three children. Like his brother Gian Antonio Fabio, who also became a Scalabrini religious, Fabio began his formation at an early age (11) with the Missionaries of St. Charles, an order dedicated to helping migrants. He made his perpetual profession in 1991.
Ordained a priest in 1992, he first worked in Latin America while completing a doctorate in Church history at the Pontifical Gregorian University, under the direction of Jesuit historian Giacomo Martina. He comments that his theological training was influenced by Karl Rahner, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Joseph Ratzinger, Jean Gallo, and Luis Ladaria Ferrer, as well as by thinkers in the “theology of migration.”
Meeting Jorge Mario Bergoglio
Sent to Chile and then Argentina, he collaborated with the then Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as national secretary of the Pontifical Mission Societies starting in 1999, and national director of the migration office within the archdiocese of Buenos Aires starting in 2002. The two men forged an enduring friendship. The missionary then moved to the Philippines, then to Rome, where he directed the Scalabrinian Institute for Migration Ministry, incorporated into the Pontifical Urban University, where he also taught.
Pope Francis called his former collaborator to the Vatican in 2016. He then became undersecretary of the Migrants and Refugees section of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, a body reporting directly to the pontiff. In 2022, Fr. Baggio was confirmed as undersecretary of the entire dicastery, going from managing 20 people to 80. People consulted by I.MEDIA within the dicastery recognize his competence, seriousness, and high standards.
In 2023, the man who is considered one of the great promoters of the reception of migrants in the Vatican saw his field of competence expand. He was chosen by the pontiff to implement the vast ecological project of the Borgo Laudato si', an ecologically-focused farming laboratory and training center on the Holy See's grounds at Castel Gandolfo, not far from Rome.
“The Pope has confidence in him. Fr. Baggio is well acquainted with relations between the Curia and NGOs,” say people who work with him.
Also a musician
Since his youth, Fr. Baggio has also developed his musical side, composing theatrical and electro-pop Christian songs. He is influenced by the Italian singers of the 70s and 80s — Claudio Baglioni, De Battisti, De Gregori, Bennato — but also by English-language songwriters such as Sting, Phil Collins, Queen, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel. Also a lover of classical music, his favorite composers include Bach, Beethoven, and Vivaldi.
He’ll be the third cardinal to hail from the Bassanese region, following in the footsteps of Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and former apostolic nuncio Archbishop Silvano Maria Tomasi.
Fr. Baggio will be ordained a bishop after becoming a cardinal. His current superior, Cardinal Czerny, will preside over the celebration with the Scalabrini community in Bassano del Grappa on January 11, 2025.
