Pietro Parente (16 February 1891 in Casalnuovo Monterotaro, Italy – 29 December 1986 in Vatican City) was a long-serving theologian in the Holy Office of the Roman Catholic Church, and was made a cardinal on 26 June 1967.
He was the first writer to use the term New Theology to describe the writings of Marie-Dominique Chenu and Louis Charlier in that paper in 1942, and was influential behind the encyclical Humani generis that condemned those theologians eight years later.
When this was renamed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1965, Parente became secretary, but he was viewed by Paul VI as too outspoken in personality to be given the job of prefect - which was given to the lesser-known but friendly and tactful Yugoslav Franjo Šeper.
Parente was elevated to the cardinalate on 26 June 1967, ceasing thereupon to be Secretary of the Congregation, since that post, subordinate to that of Prefect, could not be held by a cardinal.
Pius XII according to Parente, set firm pointers in mariology (Munificentissimus Deus and Fulgens corona), liturgy (Mediator Dei), the definition of the Church, (Mystici corporis), biblical exegesis (Divino afflante Spiritu), and, the application of papal infallibility (with the Dogma of the Assumption).