Edgar Robinson Peña Parra (born 6 March 1960) is a Venezuelan Catholic prelate who has served as Substitute for the Secretariat of State for the Holy See since 2018. He joined the

diplomatic corps The diplomatic corps () is the collective body of foreign diplomats accredited to a particular country or body. The diplomatic corps may, in certain contexts, refer to the collection of accredited heads of mission ( ambassadors, high commis ...

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 ...

in 1993, serving as Apostolic Nuncio to Pakistan from 2011 to 2015 and to

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

from 2015 to 2018. He is the first Venezuelan to serve as an

apostolic nuncio An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is ...

Early years

Edgar Peña Parra was born in

Maracaibo Maracaibo ( , ; ) is a city and municipality in northwestern Venezuela, on the western shore of the strait that connects Lake Maracaibo to the Gulf of Venezuela. It is the largest city in Venezuela and is List of cities in Venezuela by population ...

, Venezuela, on 6 March 1960 and raised in the El Saladillo neighborhood. He earned a degree in philosophy in 1981 at the seminary of the Diocese of San Cristóbal and then a bachelor's degree in theology at the seminary in Caracas. He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Maracaibo on 23 August 1985 by Archbishop . In Rome beginning in 1986, he studied diplomacy at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy and in 1993 he earned a degree 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 ...

at the

Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...

with the thesis: "Los Derechos Humanos en el Sistema Interamericano a la luz del Magisterio Pontifical", which, ''Crux'' reports, "has become a reference point for the study of human rights".

Diplomat

Peña Parra joined the

diplomatic service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtain diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

of the

on 1 April 1993. He fulfilled assignments in Kenya, Yugoslavia (1997–99), South Africa, Honduras (2002–05), and Mexico (2006–11), with a brief stint in the office of the Holy See's representative to the United Nations in Geneva. In Kenya, he represented the Holy See on housing and environmental issues with agencies of the United Nations. In his last assignment before being promoted to nuncio, Parra worked in the Apostolic Nunciature to Mexico first under

Giuseppe Bertello Giuseppe Bertello (born 1 October 1942) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church, a cardinal since 2012, who was President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and President of the Governorate of Vatican City State from Octob ...

and then Christophe Pierre. On 8 January 2011,

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 ...

appointed Parra

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 Thélepte and gave him the title "Apostolic Nuncio". On 2 February 2011 Pope Benedict XVI appointed him

Apostolic Nuncio An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. He received his episcopal consecration on 5 February 2011 from

, with Cardinals

Angelo Sodano Angelo Raffaele Sodano (23 November 1927 – 27 May 2022) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the Dean of the College of Cardinals from 2005 to 2019 and previously as the Cardinal Secretary of State from 1991 to 2006; S ...

and

Tarcisio Bertone Tarcisio Pietro Evasio Bertone (born 2 December 1934) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church and a Vatican City, Vatican diplomat. A Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal since 2003, he served as Archbishop of Vercelli from 1991 to 1995, as S ...

as co-consecrators. On 21 February 2015, Pope Francis appointed Peña Parra Apostolic Nuncio to Mozambique. In 2016 he joined the group of mediators trying to restore peace between the government of Mozambique and the opposition political party Renamo.

Substitute for General Affairs

Peña Parra was appointed Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State on 15 August 2018, effective 15 October. He is the second Latin American to hold that position, following the Argentine Leonardo Sandri, who was substitute from 2000 to 2007. In 2023, Peña Parra admitted that he authorized electronic surveillance of the director of the Vatican bank, without legal authorization. He ordered the surveillance because he wanted information about the “anomalous attitude” of directors who had refused an application from the Secretariat of State for a loan. Testifying before the

High Court of England and Wales The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (England ...

on 4 July 2024, Peña Parra stated that he willingly signed off on fraudulent invoices he knew were "completely fictitious" involving Vatican investment properties in London. In September 2024 Archbishop Peña Parra issued an order trying to reinstate a former priest, Ariel Alberto Príncipi, convicted of child sexual abuse by two interdiocesan tribunals in Argentina. The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

John Joseph Kennedy nullified the attempt and declared the case closed.

Personal life

He is fluent in Spanish, Italian, English, French, Portuguese and Serbo-Croatian.

Writings

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peña Parra, Edgar 1960 births Living people People from Maracaibo Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy alumni Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Roman Catholic titular archbishops Apostolic nuncios to Mozambique Catholic Church in Pakistan Apostolic nuncios to Pakistan Venezuelan expatriates in Pakistan 21st-century Roman Catholic titular archbishops Venezuelan bishops Bishops appointed by Pope Benedict XVI