Cardinal Francesco Monterisi was born in Barletta on May 28th 1934, in the Archdiocese of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie, in Puglia.

On July 3rd 2009 he was nominated by the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI as Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls and in the consistory of November 20th 2010, he was made a cardinal of the Holy Roman Church with the title of Deacon of the Church of San Paolo alla Regola.

Ordained a priest on March 16th 1957, he received his Episcopal ordination on January 6th 1983 from Blessed Pope John Paul II in St Peter’s Basilica.

After obtaining his degrees in Theology and Canon Law, he entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1964.

Nominated to the post of Apostolic Nuncio in Korea, Archbishop Monterisi welcomed Pope John Paul II on his first visit to that Asian nation for the canonisation of 103 Korean martyrs. On his return to Rome, the Archbishop dealt with African issues in that section of the Secretary of State’s Department for Relations with States and he taught at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. On June 11th 1993, he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Bosnia and Herzegovina. In that role, he contributed to the organisation of the historic visit of Pope John Paul II to Sarajevo on April 12th and 13th 1997.

From 1998 to 2009 he served as secretary for the Congregation of Bishops and for the College of Cardinals, overseeing the work of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, coordinating pastoral activities of the Military Ordinaries and organising the ad limina visits of bishops. He served as secretary for the conclave of 2005 during which Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected as Pope Benedict XVI.