Raniero Cantalamessa OFM Cap (born 22 July 1934) is an Italian Catholic cardinal and priest in the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin and a theologian.

He formerly served as a professor of ancient Christian history and the director of the Department of Religious Sciences at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, resigning in 1979.

[5] Cantalamessa, at the suggestion of Pope Francis, led a retreat for the bishops of the US at Mundelein Seminary from 2 to 8 January 2019 to seek spiritual guidance in addressing the clerical sex abuse crisis in the US Catholic Church.

(101) In December 2006, Cantalamessa urged Pope Benedict in an Advent sermon to declare a day of fasting and penitence in response to child sex crimes by clergy in the Roman Catholic Church.

According to media outlets, he implied that the sensational coverage of alleged child abuse and cover-ups within the Roman Catholic Church was evidence of anti-Catholicism, and bore similarities to the "more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism".

[15] On 29 March 2013, in a Good Friday homily delivered in St Peter's Basilica, Cantalamessa preached in favor of clearing away "the residue of past ceremonials, laws and disputes, now only debris."

He then referred to Francis of Assisi as exemplifying the creative destroyer of ecclesial traditions: As happens with certain old buildings, over the centuries, to adapt to the needs of the moment, they become filled with partitions, staircases, rooms and closets.

The time comes when we realize that all these adjustments no longer meet the current needs, but rather are an obstacle, so we must have the courage to knock them down and return the building to the simplicity and linearity of its origins.