Francesco Marco Nicola Monterisi (born 28 May 1934) is an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church, who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1964 to 1998 and then held senior positions in the Roman Curia until he retired in 2014.
Early life and ordination
After his elementary and secondary studies in Barletta, he entered the Pontifical Minor Seminary and then the Pontifical Major Seminary. From 1951 to 1958, he studied at the Pontifical Lateran University, where he obtained a doctorate in theology.
Monterisi was ordained to the priesthood on 16 March 1957 and returned to Apulia for several years. Beginning in 1961 he prepared for a diplomat's career at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy while also earning a doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical Lateran University in 1964, the year he joined the diplomatic service of the Holy See.
In 1990 Monterisi was appointed delegate for Pontifical Representations, the personnel chief not only for Vatican diplomats but for the whole Roman curia.
After ten years at the rank of cardinal deacon, he exercised his option to assume the rank of cardinal priest, which Pope Francis confirmed on 3 May 2021.[12]