Renato Raffaele Martino (born 23 November 1932) is an Italian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been a
cardinal since 2003. He has been the longest serving
cardinal deacon
A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Co ...
, the
cardinal protodeacon, since June 2014. He served for more than twenty years in the diplomatic service of the
Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
, including sixteen years as
Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations. He held positions in the
Roman Curia from 2002 to 2009.
Early life
Born in
Salerno, Martino was ordained as a priest in 1957. He holds a doctorate in
Canon law
Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...
and is fluent in Italian, English, French, Spanish, and
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
.
To prepare for a diplomatic career he entered the
Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in 1960. He entered the diplomatic service of the
Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
in 1962, serving in
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...
, the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
, Lebanon, Canada, and
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
.
Apostolic Nuncio
On 14 September 1980, Martino was named
Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
, Apostolic Delegate to
Laos,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, and
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
, and
Titular Archbishop
A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese.
By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...
of
Segerme. On 24 June 1981, his responsibilities were divided into the roles of Delegate to Singapore and Delegate to Laos and Malaysia. On 7 December 1983, they were reorganized further and he took on the titles Delegate to Laos and Delegate to Malaysia and Brunei.
On 3 December 1986, he was appointed
Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations. He was in that post during the
United States invasion of Panama
The United States invasion of Panama, codenamed Operation Just Cause, lasted over a month between mid-December 1989 and late January 1990. It occurred during the administration of President George H. W. Bush and ten years after the Torrijos� ...
, when president
Manuel Noriega
Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno (; February 11, 1934 – May 29, 2017) was a Panamanian dictator, politician and military officer who was the ''de facto'' ruler of Panama from 1983 to 1989. An authoritarian ruler who amassed a personal f ...
had taken refuge at the Vatican embassy.
In 1991, he opposed the American-led invasion of Iraq and was later critical of state sanctions against Iraq. In 1992, he participated at the UN Conference for the environment in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...
, speaking about the "centrality of the human person".
In June 1994, Martino demanded at the UN that a "safe haven" be created for Tutsi refugees in
Rwanda in order to save over 30 000 lives in Kabgayi.
In September 1994, he was the official spokesman for the Holy See at the
International Conference on Population and Development.
Martino was
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
's official representative at the 1994
International Conference on Population and Development, and he had the task of defending the Church's
anti-abortion teachings before a European-American bloc that strongly supported access to abortion. Martino was able to find support from Latin-American and Arab countries that were anti-abortion, and the Cairo conference was ultimately inconclusive.
Later in 1995, he participated at the
World Conference on Women in Beijing, echoing John Paul's positions in his ''
Letter to Women''. He has been on diplomatic mission to
Côte d'Ivoire to settle disputes there.
Roman Curia
On 1 October 2002, Martino was named President of the
Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (''Justitia et Pax'') was a pontifical council of the Roman Curia dedicated to "action-oriented studies" for the international promotion of justice, peace, and human rights from the perspective of the ...
.
In November 2003, he championed the use of
genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to alleviate world hunger at a conference that he organized to consider the morality of GMOs, which troubled critics concerned about the risks they pose to the environment and heath.
Martino was elevated to the
College of Cardinals
The College of Cardinals, or more formally the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. its current membership is , of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Cardinals are app ...
in the
consistory
Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to:
*A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church
* Consistor ...
of 21 October 2003 becoming
cardinal deacon
A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Co ...
of
S. Francesco di Paola ai Monti. Martino was one of the
cardinal electors who participated in the
2005 papal conclave that elected
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...
.
In December 2003, reacting to U.S. treatment of
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...
, including the release of video showing his teeth being inspected "like a cow", he said: "I felt pity to see this man destroyed. Seeing him like this, a man in his tragedy, despite all the heavy blame he bears, I had a sense of compassion for him." On 6 November 2006, after Hussein had been sentenced to death, Martino said that "... punishing a crime with another crime – which is what killing for vengeance is – would mean that we are still at the point of demanding an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth..." He pleaded for clemency for Hussein and called for a peace conference aimed at solving all the major conflicts in the Middle East and reiterated his position that the
invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...
by U.S.-led coalition was wrong.
Martino was named President of the
on 11 March 2006.
In November 2006, Martino called plans by the
Bush administration to construct an additional 700 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border "an inhumane program". He also said that Muslims in Europe should respect local laws restricting the wearing of certain types of veils. He said: "It seems elementary to me and it is quite right that the authorities demand it." He said they "must respect the traditions, symbols, culture and religion of the countries they move to".
On 14 June 2007, Martino urged Catholics to withhold donations from
Amnesty International after the organization decided in April to advocate support access to abortion in cases where pregnancy threatened a woman's life or was the result of rape or incest.
Speaking on the
2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict Cardinal Martino said that "Defenseless populations are always the ones who pay. Look at the conditions in Gaza: more and more, it resembles a big concentration camp." He called for peace talks: "If they can't come to an agreement, then someone else should do it (for them). The world cannot sit back and watch without doing anything. We Christians are not the only ones to call this land 'holy', Jews and Muslims do so too. The fact that this land is the scene of bloodshed seems a great tragedy." When the Israeli Foreign Ministry objected to the use of the phrase ''concentration camp'', Vatican officials distanced themselves from Martino's remarks. Elaborating on his remarks, he said: "I say that the conditions people are living in there should be looked at: surrounded by a wall that is difficult to cross, in conditions contrary to human dignity. What is happening during these days is horrible. But when I speak, may people take into account the whole of what I say." He said both sides are "guilty" and that it is "necessary to separate them, like two fighting siblings" and make them "sit down to negotiate".
Martino has taken a great interest in automobiles and has proclaimed the
Ten Commandments for Drivers. He has collaborated with the
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; en, International Automobile Federation) is an association established on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. It is the governing body for ...
.
Retirement
Martino submitted his resignation as required when he reached the age of 75. On 28 February 2009, Pope Benedict relieved Martino of the presidency of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, appointing Archbishop
Antonio Maria Vegliò to succeed him. On 24 October 2009, Pope Benedict named Cardinal
Peter Turkson
Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson is a Ghanaian prelate and cardinal of the Catholic Church who has served as chancellor of the Pontifical Academies of Sciences since 2022. He was president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace from 2009 to ...
to succeed Martino as president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
In July 2010, Martino assumed the position of Honorary President of the
Dignitatis Humanae Institute, a Rome-based organisation established to promote human dignity "based on the recognition that man is made in the image and likeness of God". He resigned in 2019.
In November 2010, Martino was appointed by
Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro as Grand Prior of the
Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George (SMOCG) ( it, Sacro Militare Ordine Costantiniano di San Giorgio, es, Sagrada Orden Militar Constantiniana de San Jorge), also historically referred to as the Imperial Constantinian Order ...
. On 25 June 2012
Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro appointed him Knight of the Illustrious Royal
Order of Saint Januarius
)
, clasps =
, post-nominals =
, established = 3 July 1738
, first_award =
, last_award =
, founder = Charles VII of Naples
, head_title = Grand Master
, head = Disputed:Prince P ...
.
On 8 October 2011, he was named special papal envoy to the celebration of the centenary of the cathedral of Yangon, Burma, scheduled for 8 December 2011. Martino met with Nobel peace laureate
Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi (; ; born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as State Counsellor of Myanmar (equivalent to a prime minister) and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2 ...
, a Buddhist, before the Mass.
Though too old to participate in the
2013 conclave that elected
Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
, Martino was one of the six cardinals who made the public act of obedience on behalf of the
College of Cardinals
The College of Cardinals, or more formally the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. its current membership is , of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Cardinals are app ...
to the new pope at his
papal inauguration
Papal inauguration is a liturgical service of the Catholic Church within Mass celebrated in the Roman Rite but with elements of Byzantine Rite for the ecclesiastical investiture of a pope. Since the inauguration of Pope John Paul I, it has not i ...
.
On 12 June 2014, Martino became the longest serving cardinal deacon following the elevation of Cardinal
Jean-Louis Tauran to the rank of Cardinal-Priest. Martino had declined to exercise his option of taking the title of cardinal priest after ten years as a cardinal deacon.
In letters dated 21 July 2017, the
Governor-General of Antigua and Barbuda issued notice that Martino's 2014 appointment to the
Order of the Nation had been annulled.
Notes
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martino, Renato
Permanent Observers of the Holy See to the United Nations
21st-century Italian cardinals
Almo Collegio Capranica alumni
1932 births
Living people
People from Salerno
Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy alumni
20th-century Italian Roman Catholic titular archbishops
Apostolic Nuncios to Singapore
Apostolic Nuncios to Thailand
Apostolic Nuncios to Malaysia
Apostolic Nuncios to Laos
Recipients of the Order of the Nation (Antigua and Barbuda)
Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants
Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II