 After graduating from a liceo classico, he obtained a baccalaureate in theology.He then studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome from 1976 to 1979, where he received a licentiate in Church history.He professed his solemn vows in the Capuchin Province of Tuscany on 20 August 1972 and was ordained a priest on 22 March 1975 in Viterbo.