 He received his episcopal consecration on the following 7 February from Archbishop Dionigi Tettamanzi, with Bishops Gaetano Michetti and Giacomo Barabino serving as co-consecrators.Bagnasco became Metropolitan Archbishop of the same see on 11 March 2000.Since 2001, he has held several posts within the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), including president of the administrative board of its newspaper "Avvenire", and secretary for schools and universities.