VATICAN CITY, JAN. 18, 2001 (Zenit.org)
.- John Paul II has appointed Bishop Diarmuid Martin as the Holy See´s permanent observer at the U.N. headquarters in Geneva, as well as at the World Trade Organization.
Bishop Martin has been secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. He is replacing Archbishop Giuseppe Bertello, who has been appointed apostolic nuncio in Mexico.
Bishop Martin was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1945. After several years of priestly ministry, he began to work for the Pontifical Council for the Family in the Vatican in 1977. In 1986 he was appointed undersecretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and secretary of this Vatican organization in 1994. John Paul II consecrated him bishop Jan. 6, 2000.
Bishop Martin has participated in many meetings of representative institutions of the Church with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which studied ways to alleviate the burden of debt of the world´s poorest countries.
Bishop Martin also maintained contacts with the Jubilee 2000 campaign, which had poor countries´ foreign debt as its objective. The campaign was launched with the support of stars such as Bono, leader of the music group U2.
