Paolo Romeo

Archbishop Paolo Romeo of Palermo

Styles of Paolo Romeo
Reference style	The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Monsignor
Posthumous style	none

Paolo Romeo STL JCD (born 20 February 1938 in Acireale) is the current Archbishop of Palermo. He was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI on 19 December 2006.

Romeo was the fifth of nine children. After primary school he entered the seminary and began studying Theology.

His bishop sent him to Rome in 1959 to complete his academic studies and he achieved the licentiate in theology at the Gregorian University and a doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical Lateran University.

He was ordained on 18 March 1961 at the chapel of the Episcopal Seminary of Acireale, he was incardinated in the archdiocese of Acireale. Continued his studies at the university and did pastoral ministry as assistant to the Scouts Group "Roma IX" in "Collegio San Giuseppe in Piazza di Spagna" and diocesan assistant of the association "Silenziosi Operai della Croce".

Diplomatic work

Coat of Arms of Archbishop Romeo

In 1964, he was called to the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy and on 1 January 1967 he entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See. Romeo worked in the nunciatures in the Philippines, Belgium and Luxemburg and European Community, Venezuela, and Rwanda and Burundi. In 1967, he was called to the Council for Public Affairs of the Church in the Secretariat of State. At the same time, he worked as director of the "Casa Internazionale del Clero" and was regional assistant for the Lazio of the AGESC.

In 1976 he was recalled to the Vatican Secretariat of State to monitor the life of the Catholic community in the countries of Latin America and activities of the Latin American Episcopal Conference, especially at that time which involved preparation for the 3rd General Conference of that continent which opened on 29 January 1979.

On 17 December 1983 he was appointed Titular Archbishop of Vulturia by Pope John Paul II and that same day was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti. Archbishop Romeo stayed in Haiti until his appointment to serve as Nuncio in Colombia in April 1990. Nine years later he was appointed to serve as Nuncio to Canada.

Archbishop of Palermo

On 17 April 2001 he began his period representing the Holy See in Italy and San Marino. Pope Benedict XVI appointed Archbishop Romeo to serve as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Palermo on 19 December 2006, replacing Cardinal Salvatore De Giorgi, who had reached the retirement age of 75 in September 2005. Archbishop Romeo received the pallium in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican on 29 June 2007 from Pope Benedict along with 45 other metropolitan archbishops. Archbishop Romeo was elected president of the Sicilian Episcopal Conference on 14 February 2007.

He is designated as a future Cardinal for the next consistory to take place on 20 November 2010 by Pope Benedict.