VATICAN CITY, OCT. 30, 2002 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II appointed Monsignor Celestino Migliore, Vatican undersecretary for relations with states, as new permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York.
Monsignor Migliore replaces Archbishop Renato Martino, who on Oct. 1 was appointed president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
The decision to appoint such a prominent Curia official shows the importance the Pope attaches to the Holy See’s action within the United Nations, Vatican sources told ZENIT.
Archbishop Martino’s work has been decisive at the U.N. headquarters in New York, as well as at U.N. international conferences.
Monsignor Migliore, 50, will receive episcopal ordination, as the Pope has conferred on him the dignity of archbishop, the Vatican said in its announcement today.
A native of Cuneo, Italy, Celestino Migliore was ordained a priest on June 25, 1977. After obtaining a degree in canon law, he entered the Vatican’s diplomatic service in 1980, and worked in Angola, the United States, Egypt and Poland.
In 1992 he was appointed permanent observer to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, and in 1995 he was named Vatican undersecretary for relations with states, an office of the Vatican State Secretariat.
