COOPERATORES VERITATIS
Pope names first
nuncio for Malaysia
H.E. Archbishop Joseph S. Marino
Pope
Benedict XVI has appointed the American Archbishop Joseph Marino as the first
resident Apostolic Nuncio to Malaysia, after deciding to open a new nunciature
(embassy) in Kuala Lumpur, in what is seen as a highly significant development
in relations between the Holy See and this Southeast Asian Islamic state.
At the same time, the pope has also appointed him as Apostolic
Nuncio to Timor Leste and Apostolic Delegate to Brunei Darussalam, the Vatican
stated when it broke the news of the appointment on Wednesday. The Vatican
statement does not mention the opening of a new nunciature but sources have
confirmed this will happen.
Timor Leste, which gained independence from Indonesia in 2002, is
the most Catholic country in Asia (927,000 of its 1.143,000 population are
Catholic). It has full diplomatic relations with the Holy See and a resident
ambassador in Rome.
Brunei, which gained it independence from Britain in 1984, is an
Islamic state with a population of 408,000, of whom 18,948 are Catholic, mostly
migrant skilled workers, served by an Apostolic Vicariate since 2004. It does
not have diplomatic relations with the Holy See, which has an Apostolic
delegate to the Church there.
Archbishop Marino, 50, comes to his new postings with considerable
diplomatic experience. At the time of his appointment, he was serving as Nuncio
to Bangladesh, a majority Muslim country.
Born in Birmingham, Alabama, January 1953, he gained degrees in
philosophy and psychology from the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, and
in theology and biblical theology from the Gregorian University in Rome, while
residing at the North American College (1975-80).
After doing pastoral work in Birmingham (1980-84), he entered the
Holy See’s academy for diplomats in Rome in 1984 and gained a doctorate in
Canon Law from the Gregorian University.
He joined the Holy See’s diplomatic service in 1988 and
subsequently served in the Philippines (1988-91), Uruguay (1991-94), Nigeria
(1994-97), and the UK (2004-2008).
He worked for eight years in the Vatican’s Secretariat of State
(1997-2004), as Desk Officer in its Second Section (which deals with Relations
with States) and followed Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Montenegro, Albania and Moldova.
During the Kosovo war, he accompanied the Secretary for Relations
with States (the Vatican’s “Foreign Minister”), Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, to
a meeting with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic in April 1999, in a peace
effort on behalf of then Pope John Paul II.
Then in March 2003, on the eve of the Iraq war, he accompanied
Cardinal Pio Laghi to Washington DC to meet President George W Bush, on another
peace mission on behalf of Pope John Paul II, in a last-ditch effort to avoid
the subsequent invasion.
Pope Benedict appointed him as Apostolic Nuncio to Bangladesh in
2008 and Cardinal Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious
Dialogue, ordained him bishop in Birmingham.
With this broad, transcontinental diplomatic experience,
Archbishop Marino moves to Kuala Lumpur to serve as the Pope’s representative
there and open the new nunciature. He will serve Timor Leste and Brunei from
there.
This important development in bilateral relations between the Holy
See and Malaysia comes after both sides agreed to establish diplomatic
relations when Prime Minister Najib Bin Abdul Razak met Pope Benedict in July
2011.
Najib said after that encounter that Malaysia agreed to this as it
was keen to share its experience and promote world peace and harmony with
like-minded states, such as the Vatican.
Source: UCANEWS
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