Pope Leo XIV has appointed Monsignor Renzo Pegoraro as president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, the Holy See Press Office announced on May 27, 2025. The Italian priest is the former chancellor of this institution, which has the mission of promoting the defense of human life. He replaces his compatriot Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, who is retiring at the age of 80.
Pope Leo XIV has promoted Msgr. Pegoraro, up to now chancellor of the Pontifical Academy for Life, to the role of president, succeeding Cardinal Vincenzo Paglia.
Monsignor Pegoraro is 65 years old and a surgeon by training. He’s an expert in bioethics and has been a teacher of nursing ethics at the Bambino Gesù pediatric hospital in Rome (which belongs to the Vatican) for 25 years.
President of the European Association of Medical Ethics Centers from 2010 to 2013, he was appointed chancellor of the Academy for Life by Pope Benedict XVI in 2011. He held that position continuously since then, until this new appointment.
Monsignor Pegoraro is replacing Archbishop Paglia, who had been president of the academy since 2016 and had reached the canonical retirement age (75) five years ago.
In the 1970s, Archbishop Paglia, then a simple Roman priest, was the pastor of the parish of Sant'Egidio (in Rome's Trastevere district). This church later gave its name to the Italian lay community committed to interreligious dialogue and the promotion of peace.
In 2000, Pope John Paul II appointed Paglia the bishop of Terni, a rural diocese north of Rome. He continued to accompany the Sant'Egidio community, participating in numerous initiatives concerning the Balkans.
In 2016, Pope Francis called him to Rome to head the Pontifical Academy for Life and the Pontifical Theological Institute John Paul II on Marriage and Family.
On May 19, Pope Leo XIV decided to entrust the position of Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute to Cardinal Baldassare Reina, Vicar of Rome.
