Adriano Bernardini (born 13 August 1942) is an Italian prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

who occupied positions in the diplomatic service of the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

from the 1970s until he retired in 2017. His first assignment as Apostolic Nuncio was to Bangladesh (1992–1995) and his last to Italy (2011–2017). He has been an archbishop since 1992.

Biography

On 31 March 1968, he was ordained a priest for the

Diocese of Rome The Diocese of Rome (; ), also called the Vicariate of Rome, is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church under the direct jurisdiction of the pope, who is Bishop of Rome and hence the supreme pontiff and head of the worldwide Catholic Church. As ...

by Cardinal Egidio Cardinal Vagnozzi. He attended the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy to study diplomacy and earn a doctorate in

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

Diplomatic career

His first assignment in the diplomatic service of the Holy See was in the Apostolic Nunciature to Pakistan, which also follows events in Afghanistan. He later worked in the nunciatures of Angola, Japan, Venezuela and Spain. On 17 January 1989, he was appointed chargé d'affaires of the nunciature in Taiwan. On 20 August 1992, just days after his 50th birthday, he was appointed

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 Falerii and Apostolic Nuncio to Bangladesh. He received his episcopal consecration on 15 November 1992 from Cardinal Angelo Sodano. Bernardini remained in Bangladesh until 15 June 1996, when he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Madagascar,

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

and the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...

. He was next appointed Nuncio to Thailand, Singapore and Cambodia and Apostolic Delegate to

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

, Laos, Malaysia and Brunei on 24 July 1999.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

named him Apostolic Nuncio to Argentina on 26 April 2003. His years there were marked by sharp differences between the Argentine bishops, notably Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (later

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

), and Bernardini as representative of Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano.

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

named him Nuncio to Italy and San Marino on 15 November 2011. In 2014, he conducted an investigation into charges of scandalous behaviour by priests in the Diocese of Albenga-Imperia, which led to further investigation and the removal of a bishop. His career in the diplomatic service ended on 12 September 2017, when he was replaced as Nuncio to Italy by the first non-Italian to hold the position since Italy and the Holy See established full diplomatic ties in 1929. On 4 October 2017,

named him a member of the

Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (CEP; ) was a congregation (Roman Curia), congregation of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church in Rome, responsible for Catholic missions, missionary work and related activities. It is also kn ...

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Biography

Diplomatic career

See also

References

External links