Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside-the-Walls, is an architect and was ordained a priest in 1954 for the Diocese of Rome. In 1977 he was appointed Archbishop.

He was sent as a member of the Holy See’s diplomatic corps to all five continents. He served as the Papal Nuncio in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands and later in the Sandinistan Nicaragua and anti-Sandinistan Honduras, where he was able to save several people who had been kidnapped during those difficult times. 

Thereafter he was appointed Papal Nuncio to Uruguay, a country of strong secular influence. Pope John Paul II visited Uruguay twice during his term as Papal Nuncio. In the capital city of Montevideo he had a large Cross erected commemorating these Papal visits, known as “the Nuncio’s Cross”. From 1990 to 1998, he served as the Apostolic Delegate in Jerusalem and Palestine. He promoted the creation of the Assembly of the Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land and he was responsible for the signing of the Fundamental Agreement, which normalized the official relations between the Holy See and the State of Israel in 1993. And he became the first Apostolic Nuncio in Israel. From 1998 to 2001 he held the position of Papal Nuncio in Italy and San Marino, as well.  

Afterwards the Pope entrusted him with the task of preparing a study for the reorganization of the extraterritorial complex of Saint Paul Outside-the-Walls. In 2005, he became the first Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside-the-Walls.

On March 24, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI named him a Cardinal. Since then, with the collaboration of the Benedictine Monks of the Abbey of Saint Paul,  he has been carrying out important architectural works, restorations and general rearrangements to better serve all the faithful and pilgrims who come from various parts of the world to visit the Basilica, especially for the upcoming Pauline Year (28 June 2008 - 29 June 2009).