Francisco Montecillo Padilla (born 17 September 1953) is a Philippine 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 has worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See since 1985. He represented the Holy See, either as

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 ...

Apostolic Delegate 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 ...

, to the several countries on the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

. On 17 April 2020, he was named Apostolic Nuncio to Guatemala.

Biography

Francisco Montecillo Padilla was born on 17 September 1953 in

Cebu City, Philippines Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu, is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 964,169 people, making ...

, the tenth of thirteen siblings. He prepared for the priesthood in Cebu, first at the Pope John XIII Minor Seminary and then at the Major Seminary San Carlos. He earned his theology degrees at the University of Santo Tomas Central Seminary in Manila. He was ordained on 21 October 1976 by Cardinal Julio Rosales y Ras. He then continued his studies in Rome, earning degrees at Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas.

Diplomatic career

He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See on 1 May 1985. His early assignments took him to Santo Domingo, Venezuela, Austria, India, and Japan. He was based in Australia when, on 1 April 2006,

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 him

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 Nebbio and Apostolic Nuncio to Papua New Guinea and the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

. On 23 May he received his episcopal consecration from Cardinal Ricardo J. Vidal. On 10 November 2011, Pope Benedict named him Apostolic Nuncio to

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

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 ...

appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

and Apostolic Delegate to the Arabian Peninsula on 5 April 2016. He was also appointed Apostolic Nuncio to

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

and

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

on 26 April 2016. On 30 July 2016, he was appointed Nuncio to

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

. On 6 May 2017, he was also named Apostolic Nuncio to

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

. On 17 April 2020, he was named Apostolic Nuncio to Guatemala. He is the younger brother of Archbishop

Osvaldo Padilla Osvaldo Montecillo Padilla (born 15 August 1942) is a Philippine prelate of the Catholic Church who spent his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He became an archbishop in 1991 and held the position of Apostolic Nuncio to sever ...

, also a Nuncio.

Notes

References

External links

Catholic Hierarchy: Archbishop Francisco Montecillo Padilla
{{DEFAULTSORT:Padilla, Francisco Montecillo Apostolic nuncios to Tanzania Apostolic nuncios to Kuwait Apostolic nuncios to United Arab Emirates Apostolic nuncios to Papua New Guinea Apostolic nuncios to the Solomon Islands Apostolic nuncios to Bahrain Apostolic nuncios to Yemen Apostolic nuncios to Qatar Apostolic nuncios to Guatemala People from Cebu City Living people 1953 births Apostolic vicariates

Biography

Diplomatic career

Notes

See also

References

External links