Cardinal Paolo Romeo, the archbishop emeritus of Palermo, has died at the age of 88. He died on the morning of Sunday, October 25, 2026, at the San Marco hospital in Catania after a long illness, according to a statement from the Archdiocese of Palermo reported by Vatican News.
Four decades in the Vatican’s diplomatic service
Romeo was born in Acireale, Sicily, on February 20, 1938, the fifth of nine children. He trained at the Acireale seminary, was sent to Rome in 1959, and earned a licence in theology at the Gregorian University and a doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical Lateran University. He was ordained a priest on March 18, 1961.
He joined the Holy See’s diplomatic service in 1967, with postings in the Philippines, Belgium and Luxembourg, Venezuela, and Rwanda and Burundi. In 1983 he was named apostolic nuncio to Haiti and was ordained a bishop by Pope John Paul II in St Peter’s Basilica in January 1984. Later postings took him to Colombia, to Canada in 1999, and from 2001 to Italy and San Marino.
Archbishop of Palermo and cardinal
Pope Benedict XVI appointed Romeo archbishop of Palermo on December 19, 2006, and he formally took up the post in February 2007. Benedict made him a cardinal at the consistory of November 20, 2010.
Palermo’s mayor, Roberto Lagalla, said Romeo had led the archdiocese “with pastoral sensitivity, humanity, and deep dedication”, and praised his attention to the city’s most vulnerable communities. The current archbishop, Corrado Lorefice, asked the faithful to pray for him.
Funeral in Acireale
His body will lie in the Cathedral Basilica of Acireale from 9.30am on Tuesday, October 27, with a prayer vigil that evening at 8pm. The funeral will be held in the same cathedral at 11am on Wednesday, October 28.