Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi celebrates his 80th birthday and with that the number of cardinal electors drops to 128.
The Italian cardinal is the President of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology. He was part of the commission that unearthed frescoes of the Magi in the catacombs in Rome, revealing the connection between the pagan world and Christianity.
CARD. GIANFRANCO RAVASI
President, Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology
Firstly, they speak to us about the importance of dialogue between the classical Roman world and the Christian world that was born. In fact, Christ is represented in the catacombs by the image of Orpheus attracting souls as a way to establish a bridge of dialogue between different cultures, very important in our time.
Cardinal Ravasi has served in many roles in the Vatican, such as the Dicastery for Evangelization and the Dicastery for Inter-religious Dialogue. Pope Benedict XVI made him a cardinal in 2010.
KG
