Archbishop and apostolic nuncio born in Sogliano al Rubicone and ordained a priest in 1964 at St. Paul’s Church of the Uso
His first assignment was in Cameroon, then continued to Israel, Cuba, Algeria, Nicaragua, Belgium and India. In 1985 John Paul II elected him archbishop and appointed him nuncio to Burundi. His next assignment was in Indonesia, until in 1988 he returned to the Holy Land where he organized the pope’s historic trip to Palestine for the Great Jubilee of 2000 and helped resolve the siege crisis at the Basilica of the Nativity. Benedict XVI would later appoint him as nuncio to the United States.
During his intense years of diplomatic activity, he did not fail to return once a year to his home in Sogliano al Rubicone to spend a period of rest in July.