Fortunato Frezza was born on 6 February 1942 — the Holy See's biography gives Rome — and studied at the seminaries of Bagnoregio and Viterbo. Ordained a priest in 1966, he took a licentiate in theology at the Gregorian (1967) and a degree in Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute (1977), with a philological thesis on the prophet Micah. For thirteen years he was parish priest of Sipicciano while lecturing in Scripture at the Gregorian and institutes across Lazio and the Holy Land.
In 1983 he joined the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, serving as its under-secretary from 1997 to 2014 — the official who ran the synod machinery for a generation of assemblies. In 2013 Francis appointed him a canon of St Peter's Basilica; in 2022 he became Camerlengo of the basilica's Chapter. Along the way he served as chaplain to the A.S. Roma football team and, from 2015, Master of Ceremonies of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. Consecrated titular Archbishop of Treba on 23 July 2022, he was created a cardinal-deacon by Francis on 27 August 2022, with the deaconry of Santa Maria in Via Lata — at 80, a non-elector honoured for a lifetime of scholarship: his publications number 123 titles, mostly biblical.
Major Works & Initiatives
Under-secretary of the Synod of Bishops
Seventeen years running the synod's general secretariat.
The Micah thesis
His Biblical Institute degree on the prophet Micah launched 123 publications.
Canon of St Peter's
Camerlengo of the Chapter from 2022.
Controversies
On the record
No significant public controversies reported.