Arrigo Miglio was born in San Giorgio Canavese, Piedmont, on 18 July 1942. Ordained a priest on 23 September 1967, he served Ivrea parishes, directed a diocesan shelter for the homeless and a retreat house that provided jobs for the unemployed, taught Scripture, and was vicar general of Ivrea (1981–92). John Paul II appointed him Bishop of Iglesias, in Sardinia's mining country, on 25 March 1992 (consecrated 25 April by Luigi Bettazzi). There he backed miners demanding a living wage and safer conditions — even celebrating Christmas with coal miners down the mines in 1994 and 1995.
He returned north as Bishop of Ivrea (1999–2012), organized the Social Weeks of Italian Catholics, and on 25 February 2012 Benedict XVI named him Archbishop of Cagliari; he welcomed Pope Francis to Cagliari in September 2013 and presided over the Sardinian bishops' conference. He retired on 16 November 2019. On 27 August 2022 — days after his 80th birthday — Francis created him a cardinal, with the title of San Clemente al Laterano, an honour he received as a non-elector. In October 2022 he was additionally named apostolic administrator of Iglesias, his first diocese.
Major Works & Initiatives
Archbishop of Cagliari
Seven years in Sardinia's primatial see.
The miners' bishop
Stood with Iglesias coal miners, celebrating Christmas Mass underground.
Bishop of Ivrea
Thirteen years in his home diocese; organized the Social Weeks.
Controversies
On the record
No significant public controversies reported.