Vincenzo Paglia is a busy man. Along with juggling two big Vatican jobs, he is the postulator for the cause of the canonisation of Oscar Romero (as well, incidentally, as the cause for the beatification of the Cuban priest, Félix Varela). As we sit in his office, I realise that the sound of church bells is not coming from the nearby Basilica of St John Lateran; it is the ringtone of his smartphone. There is a constant bustle of people putting their heads round the door, hoping to catch him. The diminutive, Tigger-like archbishop revels in the mild chaos of juggling these balls; he’s energetic and friendly, but, underneath, there is steely determination.
Archbishop Paglia, who turns 73 next Saturday, was born in Frosinone, a town 50 miles south east of Rome.