Born in Palermo on 4 October 1956, graduated in Law from Rome University La Sapienza, married, Ruffini has been a professional journalist since 1979 and has worked for years in the print media: first at Il Mattino in Naples (1979-1986) and then at Il Messaggero in Rome (1986-1996). He has been Director of Giornale Radio Rai (1996-2002), Gr Parlamento (1998-2002), Radio 1 (1999-2002), Rai Tre (2002-2011) and La7 (2011-2014).
On 28 April 2014 he was appointed Director of Tv2000 and Radio InBlu, the media of the Italian Episcopal Conference. During his career, he has received several journalism awards and has taken part in numerous study conferences on the role of Christians in information, the ethics of communication and new media.
On 5 July 2018 he was appointed by the Holy Father Pope Francis Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, which brought together the various media of the Holy See (Vatican Radio, Vatican Television Center, Pontifical Council for Social Communications; Holy See Press Office, Vatican Internet Service, Photographic Service, L’Osservatore Romano, Libreria Editrice Vaticana and Tipografia Vaticana) and has created the Vatican News portal.
He is Member of the Dicastery for Evangelization and of the Dicastery for Culture and Education.