Mario Grech was born on 20 February 1957 in Qala, Malta, in the diocese of Gozo. He studied philosophy and theology at the Gozo seminary and was ordained a priest on 26 May 1984. In Rome he obtained a licentiate in Utroque Iure at the Pontifical Lateran University and a doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Back in Gozo he served at the Cathedral, at the National Shrine of Ta' Pinu and as pastor in Kerċem, and held the offices of judicial vicar, teacher of canon law in the seminary, and member of the College of Consultors and the Presbyteral Council.
On 26 November 2005 Pope Benedict XVI appointed him bishop of Gozo; he received episcopal consecration on 22 January 2006 and served until 2 October 2019, when Pope Francis appointed him pro-secretary general of the Synod of Bishops. He succeeded as secretary general on 15 September 2020.
Pope Francis created him a cardinal in the consistory of 28 November 2020, assigning him the deaconry of Santi Cosma e Damiano. As secretary general he has directed the worldwide synodal process of 2021–2024 and its implementation phase. He participated as a cardinal elector in the 2025 conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV.
Consequential Quotes
I would like to clarify a misunderstanding. Many people think that synodality is a ‘fad’ of the pope. I hope none of us shares this thought.
In the various preparatory meetings, it became clear that synodality was the form and style of the early Church.
If we want to be faithful to Tradition -- and the Council should be considered as the most recent stage of Tradition -- we must boldly go down this path of the synodal Church.
Synodality is for mission, it is listening to how the Church becomes itself by living, witnessing and bringing the Gospel.
Without this consultation, there would be no synodal process, because the discernment of pastors, which constitutes the second phase, emerges from listening to the people of God.
The church is always and only listening to the voice of God.
Major Works & Initiatives
Bishop of Gozo
Bishop of his home diocese from his appointment on 26 November 2005 until 2 October 2019.
President of the Episcopal Conference of Malta
President of the Maltese bishops' conference from 2013 to 2016.
Maltese bishops' pastoral guidelines on Amoris Laetitia
Co-authored, with Archbishop Charles Scicluna, the Maltese bishops' pastoral guidelines on Amoris Laetitia, released in January 2017 and republished in L'Osservatore Romano.
Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops
Appointed pro-secretary general on 2 October 2019 and secretary general on 15 September 2020; directs the General Secretariat of the Synod and the 2021–2024 synodal process.
Controversies
Maltese Amoris Laetitia guidelines (2017)
As bishop of Gozo, Grech co-authored the Maltese bishops' January 2017 pastoral guidelines on Amoris Laetitia, which stated that, after honest discernment, a separated or divorced person living in a new relationship could in certain cases be admitted to the sacraments. Supporters presented the guidelines as a faithful application of the apostolic exhortation; critics charged that they departed from prior discipline — a point that remains contested. The guidelines were republished in L'Osservatore Romano.