Giuseppe Bertello
| His Eminence Giuseppe Bertello | |
|---|---|
| President of the Governatorate of Vatican City State | |
| See | Santi Vito, Modesto e Crescenzia |
| Appointed | 1 October 2011 |
| Predecessor | Giovanni Lajolo |
| Other posts | |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 29 June 1966 by Albino Mensa |
| Consecration | 28 November 1987 by Agostino Casaroli |
| Created Cardinal | 18 February 2012 |
| Rank | Cardinal-Deacon |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Giuseppe Bertello |
| Born | 1 October 1942 Foglizzo, Italy |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Previous post |
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| Motto | narrabo nomen tuum |
| Coat of arms |  |
| Styles of Giuseppe Bertello |
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| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
Giuseppe Bertello (born 1 October 1942) is a Catholic prelate and Cardinal currently serving as the President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and President of the Governorate of Vatican City State.[1]
Contents |
Early life [edit]
Bertello was ordained a priest on 29 June 1966 by then-Bishop Albino Mensa. He earned a licence in pastoral theology and a doctorate in canon law. He went on to attend the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy where he studied diplomacy.
Diplomatic service [edit]
He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1971, and worked until 1973 in the nunciature to the Sudan, which was also the apostolic delegation for the Red Sea region. From 1973 to 1976, he was secretary at the nunciature to Turkey, becoming a Chaplain of His Holiness on 9 February 1976. He was secretary in the nunciature to Venezuela from 1976 to 1981, and served with the rank of auditor in the Office of the Organization of the United Nations in Geneva from 1981 to 1987. In 1987, he headed the delegation of observers of the Holy See to the Conference of Foreign Ministers of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries in Pyongyang, North Korea where he was the first Catholic priest to be able to visit the small Catholic community of that country, isolated since the Korean War.
On 17 October 1987, Pope John Paul II named him Titular Archbishop of Urbs Salvia and appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana, Togo and Benin. He was consecrated on 28 November by Cardinal Secretary of State Agostino Casaroli, with Bishops Albino Mensa and Luigi Bettazzi as the principal co-consecrators. On 12 January 1991, he was transferred to Rwanda, where 1994 saw the most dramatic phase of the war between the Hutus and Tutsis.
In March 1995, John Paul II appointed him to the United Nations in Geneva. He held the post of Permanent Observer of Holy See to the United Nations in Geneva from 1997, with the same role at the World Trade Organization. Upon his appointment Bertello negotiated the ingress of the Holy See as permanent observer, in the World Trade Organization, becoming its first representative.
On 27 December 2000, the Pope entrusted him with another task, that of Apostolic Nuncio to Mexico. On 30 July 2002, he received the Pope arriving on an apostolic visit in the country for the canonisation of Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin. In 2007, Bertello was appointed to the prestigious post of apostolic nuncio to Italy and the Republic of San Marino by Pope Benedict XVI.
In 2008 Archbishop Bertello was awarded the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.[2]
Curial work [edit]
On 3 September 2011, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Archbishop Bertello President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, offices assumed on 1 October 2011, his 69th birthday. On 6 January 2012, Pope Benedict announced that Archbishop Bertello and 21 others would be created cardinals in a consistory on 18 February. He was created Cardinal-Deacon of Santi Vito, Modesto e Crescenzia on 18 February. On 21 April Cardinal Bertello was appointed, for the usual five-year period,[3] a member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the Congregation for Bishops and the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
On 13 April 2013 he was appointed to a group cardinals established by Pope Francis, exactly a month after his election to advise him and to study a plan for revising the Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia, 'Pastor Bonus'. The other cardinals are: Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa from Chile; Oswald Gracias from India; Reinhard Marx from Germany; Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya from the Democratic Republic of the Congo; George Pell from Australia; Cardinal Sean O'Malley from the United States; and Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga from Honduras. Bishop Marcello Semeraro, will act as secretary for the group. The group's first meeting has been scheduled for 1-3 October 2013. His Holiness is, however, currently in contact with the aforementioned cardinals.[4]
Cardinal Bertello's 80th birthday, when he will cease to have the right to enter a conclave called for a vacancy caused by the death of a pope before that date, will be in 2022.
References [edit]
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by José Roberto López Londoño |
Titular Archbishop of Urbs Salvia pro hac vice 17 October 1987 – 18 February 2012 |
Succeeded by Georg Gänswein |
| Preceded by Giovanni Lajolo |
President of the Governorate of the Vatican 1 October 2011–present |
Incumbent |
| President of the Pontifical Commission of the Vatican 1 October 2011–present |
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| Preceded by Umberto Betti, OFM |
Cardinal-Deacon of Santi Vito, Modesto e Crescenzia 18 February 2012–present |
Incumbent |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by Paul Fouad Tabet |
Apostolic Nuncio to the United Nations in Geneva March 1995 – 27 December 2000 |
Succeeded by Diarmuid Martin |
| Preceded by Leonardo Sandri |
Apostolic Nuncio to Mexico 27 December 2000 – 11 January 2007 |
Succeeded by Christophe Pierre |
| Preceded by Paolo Romeo |
Apostolic Nuncio to Italy and San Marino 11 January 2007 – 1 October 2011 |
Succeeded by Adriano Bernardini |
- 1942 births
- Presidents of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State
- 20th-century Roman Catholics
- 21st-century Roman Catholics
- Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy alumni
- Cardinals created by Pope Benedict XVI
- Italian Roman Catholic archbishops
- Italian cardinals
- Diplomats of the Holy See
- Apostolic Nuncios to Benin
- Apostolic Nuncios to Ghana
- Apostolic Nuncios to Italy
- Apostolic Nuncios to Mexico
- Apostolic Nuncios to Rwanda
- Apostolic Nuncios to Togo
- Living people
- Roman Catholic titular archbishops
- Members of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples
- Members of the Congregation for Bishops
- Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
