Comastri was born in
Sorano, in the province of
Grosseto to Fernando and Beneria (née Scossa) Comastri. He received his early education at schools in his native town and attended the seminary of
Pitigliano and the Regional Seminary S. Maria della Quercia in
Viterbo. He continued his studies at the
Pontifical Lateran University where he earned a
Licentiate of Sacred Theology and at the
Pontifical Roman Seminary. On 11 March 1967, he was
ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Luigi Boccadoro. Comastri served as vice-rector of the
minor seminary of Pitigliano and, at the same time, did pastoral work in the parish of San Quirico'. He was later assigned to the
Roman Curia as an official of the
Congregation for Bishops. He served as
spiritual director of the Pontifical Minor Roman Seminary and a chaplain at Roman jails before returning to Pitigliano, where he became rector of the seminary in 1971. In 1979, he was named pastor of the parish of San Stefano Protomartire in
Porto Santo Stefano. He was also a member of the diocesan college of consultors, and served as episcopal delegate for the seminarians residing outside of the diocese and professor of religion at the Professional Institute for Maritime Activities in Porto Santo Stefano. On 25 July 1990, Comastri was appointed Bishop of
Massa Marittima-Piombino by
Pope John Paul II. He received his
episcopal consecration on 12 September from Cardinal
Bernardin Gantin, with Archbishop Gaetano Bonicelli and Bishop Eugenio Binini serving as
co-consecrators, in the parish church San Stefano Protomartire. He resigned as bishop for health reasons on 3 March 1994. Following his recovery, he was named president of the National Italian Committee for the
Jubilee of the Year 2000 and placed in charge of the National Center for Vocations of the
Italian Episcopal Conference. Comastri was named
Territorial Prelate of the
Territorial Prelature of Loreto, with the personal title of
archbishop, on 9 November 1996. On 5 February 2005, he was appointed President of the
Fabric of Saint Peter,
Vicar General of His Holiness for the State of Vatican City, and Coadjutor Archpriest of
St. Peter's Basilica. He preached the
Lenten spiritual exercises for Pope John Paul II and the Roman Curia in 2003 and the meditations for the
Stations of the Cross in the
Colosseum on Good Friday 2006. Upon the retirement of Cardinal
Francesco Marchisano on 31 October 2006, Comastri succeeded him as Archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica. Pope Benedict XVI created him a
cardinal in the
consistory of 24 November 2007, assigning him the titular church of
San Salvatore in Lauro with the rank of cardinal-deacon. In addition to his main duties, he also serves as vice-president of the
Pontifical Academy of the Immacolata and he has been a member of the
Congregation for the Causes of Saints since 2005. Comastri participated in the
papal conclave that elected
Pope Francis. After ten years as a cardinal-deacon, he was raised to the rank of cardinal-priest on 19 May 2018. In a 2020 television interview, Comastri objected to Turkey's decision to turn
Hagia Sophia, once a church and long a museum, into a mosque. He said: Pope Francis accepted Comastri's resignation as vicar general, archpriest, and president of the Fabric on 20 February 2021. ==References==