Velasio de Paolis

Velasio de Paolis, C.S., JCD, STL (19 September 1935 – 9 September 2017), was an Italian member of the Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo (Scalabrinians) and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was President of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See and Pontifical Delegate for the religious institute of the Legionaries of Christ.

De Paolis was born in 1935 in Sonnino, Latina, and took his final vows as a member of the Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo (Scalabrinians) on 4 October 1958.

He completed his studies in Rome and received his doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University, a licentiate in theology from the faculty of theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum, and a law degree from La Sapienza University. He was ordained to the priesthood on 18 March 1961 and after 1971 taught canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University. In 1987 he became professor of canon law at the Pontifical Urban University, where he became dean in 1998.

On 30 December 2003, De Paolis was appointed Secretary of the Apostolic Signatura and Titular Bishop of Thelepte by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on 21 February 2004 from Cardinal Angelo Sodano, with Archbishop Silvano Maria Tomasi, CS, and Bishop Francesco Saverio Salerno serving as co-consecrators. In response to the murder of two priests in Turkey and Nigeria, he declared, "Enough now with this turning the other cheek! It's our duty to protect ourselves...The West has had relations with the Arab countries for half a century, mostly for oil, and has not been able to get the slightest concession on human rights."

De Paolis was named President of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See by Pope Benedict XVI on 12 April 2008, also being promoted to Titular Archbishop of Thelepte. As President, he essentially served as the chief auditor for the Vatican.

Refusing to allow the film adaption of Dan Brown's novel Angels & Demons to be filmed at churches in Rome, De Paolis said that Brown had "turned the gospels upside down to poison the faith...It would be unacceptable to transform churches into film sets so that his blasphemous novels can be made into films in the name of business." He also said that Brown's work "wounds common religious feelings."

On 25 January 2010 he was appointed a member of the Apostolic Signatura, the Church's highest court, in addition to his duties at the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See. On 29 December 2010 he was appointed a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, and the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts. He held these memberships until his 80th birthday.

He was created Cardinal-Deacon with the title of Gesù Buon Pastore alla Montagnola by Pope Benedict XVI in the consistory of 20 November 2010. On 4 May 2011, Pope Benedict appointed him a member of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, on which he served until he reached the mandatory retirement age of 80 in 2015.