Rino Passigato (born 29 March 1944) 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 was the

Apostolic Nuncio to Portugal The Apostolic Nunciature to the Republic of Portugal is an ecclesiastical office of the Catholic Church in Portugal. It is a diplomatic post of the Holy See, whose representative is called the Apostolic Nuncio with the rank of an ambassador. Fo ...

from 2008 to 2019. He joined 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 ...

in 1973. He has been an archbishop since 1992 and served as an apostolic nuncio in Burundi, Bolivia, and Peru.

Biography

Rino Passigato was born in

Bovolone Bovolone is a town and a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about west of Venice and about southeast of Verona. Bovolone borders the following municipalities: Cerea, Concamarise, Isola de ...

, Italy, on 29 March 1944. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Verona on 29 June 1968. He entered the

Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy The Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy (, ) is one of the Roman Colleges of the Catholic Church. The academy is dedicated to training priests to serve in the diplomatic corps and the Secretariat of State of the Holy See. Despite its name, the P ...

, the Vatican school for diplomats, in 1969. He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1973. His early assignments included postings in Cameroon, Australia, Egypt, Great Britain, and the United States. In 1982 he earned a doctorate in canon law 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 a dissertation titled "The regime of religious freedom and the relations between the political community and the Catholic Church in Vatican II". On 16 December 1991,

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 ...

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 Nova Caesaris and

Apostolic Pro-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 a ...

Burundi Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with a population of over 14 million peop ...

. He received his episcopal consecration on 6 January 1992 from Pope John Paul. In Burundi he witnessed the beginnings of genocidal violence between Hutus and Tutsis, and sheltered hundreds of refugees in the garden of the nunciature in

Bujumbura Bujumbura (; ), formerly Usumbura, is the economic capital, largest city and main port of Burundi. It ships most of the country's chief export, coffee, as well as cotton and tin ore. Bujumbura was formerly the country's political capital. In la ...

. On 18 March 1996, he was named Apostolic Nuncio to

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

. On 17 July 1999, he was named Apostolic Nuncio to

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. On 8 November 2008,

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 Apostolic Nuncio to Portugal. He presented his credentials to

Aníbal Cavaco Silva Aníbal António Cavaco Silva (; born 15 July 1939) is a Portuguese economist and politician who served as the 19th president of Portugal, from 9 March 2006 to 9 March 2016, and as prime minister of Portugal, from 6 November 1985 to 25 October ...

, President of Portugal, on 11 November. In October 2017, the weekly newspaper'' Expresso (newspaper), Expresso'' published a lengthy attack on Passigato citing mostly anonymous priests and bishops accusing him of incompetence and lack of consideration for personal circumstances in episcopal appointments. He declined to comment. Celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of his priestly ordination in July 2018, the Salesians of Portugal praised his:

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 ...

accepted his resignation on 4 July 2019, a few months after he turned 75.

Honours

Grand Cross of the Order of Christ of the

Portuguese Republic Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it shares the longes ...

(11 March 2010).Portuguese Presidency Website, Order
search form
type "Joan-Enric Vives i" in "nome", then click "Pesquisar" * PRT Order of Saint James of the Sword - Grand Cross BAR

PRT Order of Saint James of the Sword - Grand Cross BAR

Grand Cross of the

Order of Saint James of the Sword The Military Order of Saint James of the Sword (), formerly known as the Ancient, Most Noble and Enlightened Military Order of Saint James of the Sword, of the Scientific, Literary and Artistic Merit (), is one of the four former ancient Port ...

of the

(6 June 2009). * Medal of the Cross of Saint George (June 2019).

Notes

References

External links

Archbishop Rino Passigato at Catholic Hierarchy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Passigato, Rino 1944 births Living people People from Bovolone Pontifical Gregorian University alumni 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic titular archbishops 21st-century Italian Roman Catholic titular archbishops Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II Apostolic nuncios to Portugal Apostolic nuncios to Peru Apostolic nuncios to Burundi Apostolic nuncios to Bolivia Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint James of the Sword