Cardinal Angelo Scola, Metropolitan Archbishop emeritus of Milan, was born on 7 November 1941 at Malgrate, Milan. He was ordained on 18 July 1970 and holds doctorates in theology and philosophy.
Cardinal Scola was actively involved in the Communion and Liberation Movement before becoming assistant researcher in philosophy and then assistant professor of moral theology at the University of Fribourg. In 1982 he was appointed professor of theological anthropology at the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, and taught contemporary Christology at the Pontifical Lateran University, Rome.
On 21 September 1991, he was ordained Bishop of Grosseto, subsequent to his appointment on 20 July.
The Holy Father appointed him Rector of the Pontifical Lateran University and President of the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in 1995.
On 5 January 2002 the Pope appointed him Patriarch of Venice. He served as President of the Bishops’ Conference of the Triveneta region.
Relator general of the 11th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, The Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church (October 2005).
On 28 June 2011 he was appointed Archbishop of Milan.
On 11 October 2011 he was elected President of the Bishops’ Conference of Lombardy (Italy).
Appointed by Pope Francis he participated in the III Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (October 2014) on The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization and, by election, in the XIV Ordinary General Assembly on The Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and Contemporary World (October 2015).
He was a Member of the Council of Cardinals for the Study of Organizational and Economic Affairs of the Holy See.
He participated in the conclave of April 2005, which elected Pope Benedict XVI and in the conclave of March 2013, which elected Pope Francis.
Created and proclaimed Cardinal by St. John Paul II in the Consistory of 21 October 2003, of the Title of Ss. XII Apostoli (Twelve Holy Apostles).