Cardinal Giuseppe Betori (Foligno, Italy, 25 February 1947) is Archbishop of Florence, Italy. He was ordanied a priest in 1970. Betori received a licenciate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University and a doctorate in Sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute. He was also the Dean of Theological Institute of Assisi, Italy. He served as the Secratry General of the Italian Episcopal Conference being nominated by Saint Pope John Paul II. On 18 February 2012 Betori was made a Cardinal with the titular church of San Marcello.

On December 2011 he was appointed a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture for a five-year renewable term. He was also appointed a member of the Congegation for Catholic Education, and on 17 May 2014 Pope Francis nominated him a member of the Pontifical Council of the Laity.

Cardinal Ricardo Blázquez Pérez (Avila, Villanueva del Campillo, 3 April 1942) is Archbishop of Valladolid and President of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference. He was ordained priest on 18 February 1967. He studied for a licence and doctorate in Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University 1967-1972. From 1974 he taught theology at the Pontifical University of Salamanca, and was dean of its theology faculty. In 1988 he was nominated auxiliary bishop of Santiago di Compostela. On 26 May 1992 he was appointed bishop of Palencia. On 8 September 1995 he transferred to the See of Bilbao.  On 8 March 2005 he was elected president of the Spanish bishops’ conference. On 13 March 2010 Pope Benedict XVI promoted him metropolitan archbishop of Valladolid. On 12 March 2014 he was re-elected president of the Spanish bishops’ conference. He was created cardinal by Pope Francis in the Consistory of 14 February 2015, with the title of Santa Maria in Vallicella.

Charles Maung Bo, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo is the Archbishop of Yangon, Myanmar. In 2015 he became the first cardinal from that southeast Asian country.

Bo was born on October 29, 1948, in Monhla, near Mandalay, Burma, to parents John and Juliana Aye Tin. Bo’s father, a farmer, died when he was 2. Thereafter, he was sent to a Salesian-run boarding school in Mandalay. From 1962 to 1976, Bo studied at the Nazareth Aspirantate, a Salesian seminary, in Anisakan village, near Maymyo (now Pyin Oo Lwin).

He was ordained a priest of the Salesians of Don Bosco order April 9, 1976. In 1985 he was appointed as prefect of the Apostolic Prefecture in Lashio. In 1990, when the prefecture was elevated to a diocese, Pope John Paul II appointed Bo its first bishop. Bo received episcopal consecration on Dec. 16, 1990. In March 1996, he was transferred to become the Bishop of the Diocese of Pathein, and on June 7, 2003, John Paul II named him Archbishop of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city.

He served as president of the Episcopal Conference of Myanmar from 2000-2006.

On January 4, 2015, Pope Francis announced that he would make Bo a cardinal, and formally elevated him at the consistory held on March 14, 2015.

Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo (Steubenville, Ohio, May 23 1949) is the second and current Archbishop of Galveston-Houston (USA) since 2006, and pastor to its 1.3 million Catholics.

On November 12 2013, he was elected Vice-President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). DiNardo was elevated to the College of Cardinals by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007. 

DiNardo was awarded the Basselin Scholarship for Philosophy at the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C., from where he later obtained a Master's degree in Philosophy. He furthered his studies in Rome, earning a licentiate in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University and studying Patristics at the Augustinianum.

Péter Card. Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, is president of the Hungarian Episcopal Conference (Magyar Katolikus Püspöki Konferencia) and of the Council of the Episcopal Conferences of Europe.

As a priest he worked for twenty years as a professor of Canon Law and then as the Rector of the Catholic University Péter Pázmány in Budapest.  He is a Member of the Scientific Academy of Hungary and of the Academia Scientiarium et Artium Europaea.

Cardinal Gérald Cyprien Lacroix, ISPX, is the Archbishop of Quebec and Primate of Canada. Born in 1957 in the Archdiocese of Québec, he completed his secondary and higher education and then studied theology at Laval University. In 1975 he approached the Pius X Secular Institute, taking perpetual vows in 1982 and being ordained priest on 8 October 1988. He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Quebec on 7 April 2009 and received episcopal consecration on 24 May.

On 22 February 2011 he was appointed Archbishop of Quebec and Primate of Canada, receiving the pallium from Pope Benedict on 29 June 2011. He was elevated to the College of Cardinals at the consistory on 22 February 2014.

José Luis Lacunza Maestrojuán (Pamplona, 24 February 1944), Bishop of David (Panamá). He entered the Order of Augustinian Recollects (O.A.R.) and attended courses of Philosophy at Zaragoza and Theology at Pamplona. He made his solemn profession in 1967 and was ordained priest on 13 July 1969 at Pamplona. In 1971 he was sent to Panamá, where he was rector the Collegio San Agustín, rector of the University Santa María la Antigua and president of the Federation of Catholic Schools. On 30 December 1985 he was nominated auxiliary bishop of Panamá. On 29 October 1994 he was nominated bishop of Chitré.  On 2 July 1999 he was nominated bishop of David. He has been President of the Episcopal Conference of Panama twice (2000-2004 and 2007-2013). He was created cardinal by Pope Francis in the Consistory of 14 February 2015 when he was given the title of San Giuseppe da Copertino.

Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya (Mongobele, Congo, 7 October 1939) is the Archbishop of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo being so appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007. 

He initiated his ecclesiastical studies at the Seminary of Bokoro and furthered them at the Major Seminary of Kabwe, where he studied philosophy. He was then sent to Rome to attend the Pontifical Urbaniana University, as well as the Pontifical Biblical Institute. He also attended the Pontifical Biblical University in Jerusalem, where he obtained a doctorate degree in biblical studies. He was ordained to the priesthood on 21 December 1963, and was made a Cardinal in 2010.

Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller (Finthen, Mainz, 31 December 1947) is Emeritus Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith being so appointed by Pope Benedict XVI on 2 July 2012. He was ordained a priest on 11 February 1978 and was made a Cardinal on 22 February 2014.

He studied philosophy and theology in Mainz, Munich. In 1977 he received his Doctorate of Divinity on the Protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

In 1986, Father Müller took the chair in dogmatic theology at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where he is still an honorary professor.

Kazimierz Card. Nycz, Metropolitan Archbishop of Warsaw, was born 1 February 1950, in Stara Wieś. He was ordained to the priesthood on 20 May 1973 by Bishop Julian Groblicki. From 1973 to 1975 he was a vicar in a parish of Saint Elisabeth in Jaworzno. In 1976, he obtained a bachelor degree at the Faculty of Theology of the Pontifical Academy of Theology (Papieska Akademia Teologiczna) of Kraków; then, in 1977, he started his doctoral studies at the Catholic University of Lublin, where in 1981, he earned a doctorate in catechetical studies. From 1987 to 1988 he was vice-rector of the Major Seminary of Kraków, and organized the last visit of Pope John Paul II to Poland.

On 14 May 1988, Nycz was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Kraków and Titular Bishop of Villa Regis. He received episcopal consecration on the following 4 June from Cardinal Franciszek Macharski. He was nominated Bishop of Koszalin-Kołobrzeg on 9 June 2004. On 3 March 2007, Pope Benedict XVI named Nycz as Metropolitan Archbishop of Warsaw. In addition to his role as Archbishop, he was named Bishop to the Eastern Catholics in Poland on 9 June 2007. On 20 November 2010 he was created Cardinal-Priest of Ss. Silvestro e Martino ai Monti.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet was born 1944 at Lamotte, in the diocese of Amos, Quebec province, Canada. Ordained priest for the same diocese in 1968. Obtaining a licence in philosophy at the Angelicum and a PhD in dogmatic theology at the Gregorian, he taught philosophy and theology in Colombia (South America) from 1972 to 1989. In 1990 he became Rector of the Major Seminary in Montreal and from 1997 Professor of Dogmatic Theology at the Istituto Giovanni Paolo II per Studi su Matrimonio e Famiglia at the Lateran. In 2001 he was nominated Bishop and Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and in 2002 Metropolitan Archbishop of Quebec and Primate of Canada. He was raised to the cardinalate in the consistory of 21 October 2003 and became prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America in 2010.

Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch (Lebanon) was born 1940 at Himalaya. He studied at the Jesuits’ Notre Dame de Jambour College and made his perpetual profession in the Mariamite Maronite Order in 1962. At Rome he studied philosophy and theology at the Pontifical Lateran University and was ordained priest on 3 September 1967. For several years he was in charge of the Mariamite scholasticate in Rome, while serving as director of the Arab Language programmes of Vatican Radio before returning to Lebanon in 1975, at the beginning of the war, to direct the College of Notre Dame in Louayzé. He then served as a judge on the Patriarchal Tribunal and as head of Santa Rita School in Dbayé. On 2 May 1986 the Maronite Synod elected him Patriarchal Vicar and the Pope assigned him the titular episcopal see of Caesarea Philippi. He was ordained a bishop on 12 July 1986. On 9 June 1990, he was transferred to the new Eparchy of Jbeil (Byblos) for Maronites and, in 2003, was appointed Secretary of the Permanent Synod of the Maronite Church.

On 15 March 2011 he was elected the 77^th successor of St. Maron at the Extraordinary Synod in Bkerké, north-east of Beirut. On 24 March that same year Benedict XVI granted him the Ecclesiatica Communio.

Following the Arab Spring and at the height of the civil war in neighbouring Syria, Patriarch Rai had the joy of welcoming the Pope on his visit to Lebanon in September 2012 for the presentation of the Apostolic Exhortation  Ecclesia in Medio Oriente. On that occasion he described Beirut as "a city that witnessed to the peaceful coexistence of Muslims and Christians in the Arab world".

Cardinal Angelo Scola (7 November 1941) is Emeritus Archbishop of Milan, Italy. He was appointed to this position by Pope Benedict XVI on 28 June 2011. He has previously served as Patriarch of Venice from 2002 to 2011. He was made a Cardinal in 2003 by Saint Pope John Paul II.

A philosopher and theologian, he has published works on topics such as biomedical ethics, theological anthropology, human sexuality, and marriage and the family. He is also the author of more than 120 articles in scholarly journals of philosophy and theology. His works include: Hans Urs Von Balthasar: A Theological Style, and The Nuptial Mystery. 

Cardinal Telesphore Placidus Toppo (15 October 1939) was born in India, and is currently Archbishop of Ranchi, India. Toppo studied at St. Xavier's College in Ranchi, and then Theology at the Urbanianum, Rome. He was ordained a priest on 3 May 1969 by Bishop Franz von Streng. He was later nominated Cardinal by Saint Pope John Paul II on 21 October 2003. 

He was president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India from 12 January 2004 to 19 February 2008. He also served as president of Catholic Conference of Bishops of India from 2003 to 2005.

Cardinal Donald Wuerl is the Archbishop of Washington and was elevated to the College of Cardinals in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI.  He is chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, chancellor of The Catholic University of America, chairman of the board of the Pope John Paul II Cultural Foundation and also of The Papal Foundation. He is also chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine and a member of the USCCB Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis and the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty. He is the author of numerous articles and books, including the best-selling catechisms, The Teaching of Christ andThe Catholic Way.

Cardinal Wuerl was appointed the Relator General for the 2012 Vatican Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith.

Cecilio Raúl Berzosa Matínez, Bishop of Ciudad Rodrigo, Spain.

Born in Spain in 1957, he was ordained priest in 1982 and consecrated bishop in 2005.He was a professor of dogmatic theology and spirituality at the Theology Faculty of Northern Spain, and Director of the journal “Sembrar”, and Director of Radio programmes. He is the author of many publications in Theology and the relation between Faith and Culture. He works on different cultural and religious programmes for the Church's Radio in Spain.

Alfonso Cortés Contreras, Archbishop of León, Guanajuato, Mexico.

Born in Mexico in 1947, he was ordained priest in 1972 and consecrated bishop on 24 August 2005. He was on the staff of the Archdiocesan Seminary of Monterrey and professor of theological anthropology at the Pontifical University of Mexico.  From 1999 to 2005 he was Rector of the Pontifical Mexican College in Rome. He was a member of the academic council of the Gregorian University and president of the association of rectors of ecclesiastical colleges in Rome, before becoming auxiliary bishop of Monterrey and finally ordinary of Cuernavaca y León, Mexico.

Filomeno do Nascimento Vieira Dias, Bishop of Cabinda, Angola.

Born in Luanda 18 April 1958. He studied for the priesthood in Angola and in Rome, obtaining a Licentiate in Theology at the Pontifical Urban University, a degree in Theology at the Lateran University and a Licentiate in Philosophy at the Gregorian University. He has a diploma in juridical-administrative practices from the School sponsored by the Congregation for the Clergy; he studied journalism in Luanda and at the Catholic Institute in Paris. He was ordained a priest on 30 October 1983. He has since been: parish assistant, rector of Luanda minor propaedeutic seminary, teacher in various subjects, chaplain and assistant to various local religious communities, Rector of Luanda Major Seminary and vice-Rector of the Catholic University of Angola, and Auxiliary of the Archdiocese of Luanda (Angola).

Paul-André Durocher, Archbishop of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.

Born in 1954, Archbishop Paul-André Durocher's early studies concentrated on music at the University of Western Ontario. He studied for the priesthood at the university of St-Paul, Ottawa being ordained for the Diocese of Timmins in 1982. Further studies at the University of Strasbourg and the Pontifical Gregorian University.

He became bishop in 1997 as auxiliary of Sault-Ste-Marie and then in 2002 as bishop of Alexandria-Cornwall before becoming archbishop of Gatineau in 2011. He has been president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Canada.

Víctor Manuel Fernández is the Rector of the Università Cattolica Argentina.

Born in Alcira (Córdoba/Argentina), in 1962. He studied philosophy and theology in Major Seminary at Córdoba, and completed his theological studies in the Theological Faculty of the UCA. Ordained priest in 1985, he obtained a licence in theology with a biblical specialisation at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome in 1988. In 1990 he obtained his doctorate in theology at the Faculty of the Theology of the UCA.

He has collaborated with CELAM, in the area of pastoral and theological reflection. He collaborated in the preparations, participated as a guest and was an expert in the Redaction committee for the V CELAM meeting in Aparecida (2007).

He was raised to the Episcopate by Pope Francis on 13 May 2013.

Joseph Vianney Fernando (6 August 1942) is Bishop of Kandy, Sri Lanka.

He was ordained a priest on 21 December, 1966 and his Episcopal ordination was on May 21, 1983. Bishop Vianney received his education at St. Sylvester College, Kandy and pursued higher education at the University of St. Paul's Ottawa Canada in 1977. In 1973, he received a B.A. from the University of Peradeniya.

He was the President of the Catholic Bishop's Conference of Sri Lanka 1995 to 1998, 2004 to 2010 and President of Caritas in Asia. Further, he served as executive chairman of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conference for human development from 1995 to 1999, member of the Pre-Synodal Council, Synod, and Post Synodal Council of the special Synod of Bishops for Asia from 1995, and was a member of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum" from 1980 to 1989. Since 1995, he has been a member of the Pontifical Council for Inter Religious Dialogue, the Commission for Emergency Relief and Refugees, as well as the Catholic Commission for the National Social Cooperation.

Rino Fisichella, born at Codogno (Lodi) 25 August 1951. Ordained priest for the diocese of Rome on 13 March 1976 and Auxiliary Bishop of Rome in 1998. He taught “Fundamental Theology” from 1981 to 2001 in the Pontifical Gregorian University. From 2002 to 2010 he was Magnificent Rector of the Pontifical Lateran University. From 2008 to 2010 he was President of the Pontifical Academy for Life. From 30 June 2010 he is President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation. He is a Member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, of the Pontifical Council for Culture, of the Pontifical Council for the Social Communications and the Pontifical Committee for the International Eucharistic Congresses. At the moment he is the author and curator of some thirty volumes translated into many languages, and numerous articles for scientific and international journals. In 2005 he received the gold medal for Culture from the President of the Italian Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.

Bruno Forte, Metropolitan Archbishop of Chieti - Vasto (Italy),was until 2004 Ordinary Professor of Dogmatic Theology at the Pontifical Theological Faculty of Naples. He is a member of the Pontifical Councils for Culture, for the Promotion of Christian Unity and the New Evangelisation and of the Mixed International Catholic-Orthodox Commission and the mixed Commission between the Catholic Church and the Grand Rabinate of Israel. His main works (many are translated into the most common European languages and various others) include the Simbolica Ecclesiale (Edizioni San Paolo, Milan) in eight volumes and the Dialogica (Morcelliana, Brescia) in four volumes.

Joaquim Giovanni Mol Guimarães, is the Auxiliary Bishop of Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Born in Brazil in 1960 he was ordained priest in 1988 and bishop 25 March 2006. His ministry has seen him as professor of theology at the Pontifical Catholic University and researcher into the Biblical-catechetical dimension of the Episcopal Conference of Brazil. Currently he is the Rector of the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais and presides the Episcopal Commission for Culture and Education of the Bishops' Conference.

Denis Hart, Archbishop of Melbourne, Australia was born at East Melbourne on 16 May 1941. He was ordained to the priesthood at St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne on 22 July 1967. He was Executive Secretary of the National Liturgical Commission of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference from 1 July 1975 until 1 July 1990. He was responsible for the preparation of official editions of books for worship - the three volume Lectionary for Mass, the rites of Anointing, Marriage, Funerals, Initiation of Adults, and, in co-operation with publishers, of people's books for worship. He was Liturgy Director and Assistant Master of Ceremonies for the whole of the Australian Papal Visit in November 1986.

On 10 November 1997 he was named Titular Bishop of Vagada and Auxiliary Bishop to the Archdiocese of Melbourne and was consecrated on 9 December 1997. On 22 June 2001 he was appointed Archbishop of Melbourne. In the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference he has been a member of the Permanent Committee since 2002, and was chairman of the Bishops' Commission for Administration and Information (2002-2012), and a member of the Bishops' Commission for Liturgy (1998-2012), and Vice President of the Conference (2010-2012). He has been Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee for the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross since 2010. He has been a member of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy since 2003 and its Vice President (2010-2014).

Linus Lee Seong-hyo, Auxiliary bishop of Suwon, Korea

He was born 6 July 1957 in Gi-dong Paldal-gu, Suwon-si, Kyonggi-do, in the diocese of Suwon (then Archdiocese of Seoul). He studied at the University Ajou; at the Seoul National University, completing an MA in Electronics; at the Major Seminary in Suwon; at the Major Seminary in Trier, Germany (1987-1992); and finally at the Catholic University of Paris (1993-2001), obtaining a PhD in Theology.
He taught at the university and major seminary in Suwon and directed its pastoral affairs office before becoming Dean of Academic affiars. He is the editor of the Theses of the Korean Theological Association.

He was consecrated bishop in 2011 for the diocese of Suwon.

Charles Morerod, O.P. (28 October 1961) is a Swiss Dominican prelate. He has been Bishop of Lausanne, Genève and Fribourg, Switzerland since 2011.

He has previously served as Rector Magnificus of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum), as well as Secretary General of the International Theological Commision.

Morero earned a licentiate in theology from the University of Fribourg in 1987, and a doctorate in theology from the same university in 1994. He was a chaplain to the university from 1991 to 1994. In 1996 he obtained a licentiate in philosophy and a doctorate in philosophy from the Catholic University of Toulouse in 2004. 

Bishop Morerod is well known as an expert on the life and work of St Thomas Aquinas and also for his ecumenical work. His philosophical and theological works reach wide audiences and cover a range of issues in the field of culture.

Franz-Josef Overbeck, Bishop of Essen, Germany

Named auxiliary bishop of Münster in July 2007 and then Bishop of Essen in October 2009, Franz-Josef Overbeck is currently the youngest diocesan bishop in Germany. From February 2011 he has also been the military Ordinary. 

Arthur Roche (6 March 1950, Yorkshire, England) is the Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship, being appointed by Pope Benedict XVI on 26 June 2012.

Roche had served as the ninth Bishop of Leeds, having served previously as Coadjutor Bishop of Leeds and, before that, as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Westminster, England's principal Catholic diocese.

From 1969 to 1975, Roche studied at St Alban's College in Valladolid, Spain, where he obtained a degree in theology from the Comillas Pontifical University (Madrid). He also worked as a spiritual director of the Venerable English College in Rome, as General Secretary of the Episcopal Conference of England and Wales, and as Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster. He became the ninth bishop of Leeds in 2004 and was also the Chairman of ICEL.

Pr Mgr François BOUSQUET. Priest of the Diocese of Pontoise in France. Prélat d’honneur. Rector of Saint-Louis des Français à Rome since September 2011. Philosopher and theologian, emeritus Professor of the Theologicum at the Catholic Institute of Paris, where he was Vice-Rector of research from 2008 to 2011. Former Director of the Institute of Science and Theology of Religions. A thesis on Christology of Kierkegaard; specialisations in fundamental theology, theology of religions and interreligious dialogue. Many publications in both the scientific and pastoral fields.

Prof. Jean-Luc Marion (3 July 1946) is a French postmodern philosopher. Marion is an emeritus  Professor at the University Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV). Professor at the Catholic Institute of Paris ("Dominique Dubarle" chair), director of the Centre d’Etudes Cartésiennes since 1995 (and scientific secretary since it foundation in 1973).

Marion is former student of Jacques Derrid, a French philosopher best known for developing a form of semiotic analysis known as "deconstruction", whose work is informed by patristic and mystical theology, phenomenology, and modern philosophy. Much of his academic work has dealt with Descartes and phenomenologists like Martin Heidegger and Edmund Hussel.

Prof. Rafael Vicuña (1949, Chile). Vicuña studied molecular biology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, and is professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at the Pontifical University of Santiago de Chile since 1994.

In 1986, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. During 1997-99, he served as President of the Chilean Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He is also former Dean of Research and Vice President for Academic Affairs at his University. His field of interest is the biochemistry and molecular genetics of ligninolytic basidiomycetes. He is author of many scientific publications as well as essays dealing with science and society. He is a member of the Chilean Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the father of 7 children.