Gonzalo Aemilius (born 18 September 1979 in

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

) is a Uruguayan

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

cleric who has served as a personal secretary to

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

since 2020.

Biography

Gonzalo Aemilius was born in

on 18 September 1979. His parents were not practicing Christians and one of his grandmothers was Jewish. He grew up in a middle-class family and attended a Catholic school in Montevideo. He was member of the Scout Movement in the Grupo Scout Juan de Córdoba. When he came of age he discovered his vocation for a religious career. He was ordained a priest on 6 May 2006. He was appointed principal of the Liceo Jubilar Juan Pablo II in 2005; his contribution was vital for the development of this Roman Catholic institution devoted to the education of poor children. While he was working there,

, then Archbishop of Buenos Aires, learned of his work and telephoned him periodically to discuss it, beginning in 2006. At the end of 2012 he was sent to the parish of Puntas del Manga to take up a new assignment. He studied in Rome and earned a doctorate in theology. On 17 March 2013, as Pope Francis was on his way to celebrating Mass at the Vatican's parish church of Sant'Anna, he recognized Aemilius in the crowd and invited him to attend and after the service introduced him and asked for prayers in support of his work. He told ''

L'Osservatore Romano ''L'Osservatore Romano'' (, 'The Roman Observer') is the daily newspaper of Vatican City State which reports on the activities of the Holy See and events taking place in the Catholic Church and the world. It is owned by the Holy See but is not a ...

'' the next day: "He taught me to take the best that is in each individual, however different he or she may be from others, and to put it to good use for the good of all." Aemilius' family had funded his trip to Rome because they knew of his relationship with Pope Francis. After a few days as a public figure, he returned to his work in Uruguay. On 26 January 2020, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had appointed Aemilius to serve as one of his two private secretaries. He replaced Fabian Pedacchio and joined Yoannis Lahzi Gaid in that role.

References

External links

Pasos...
- Blog by Gonzalo Aemilius 21st-century Uruguayan Roman Catholic priests Officials of the Roman Curia 1979 births Living people People from Montevideo Uruguayan people of Jewish descent Pope Francis {{Uruguay-reli-bio-stub