Sotero Sanz Villalba (22 April 1919 – 17 January 1978) was a Spanish 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 worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See.

Biography

Sotero Sanz Villalba was born on 22 April 1919 in

El Buste El Buste is a municipality located in the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census ( INE), the municipality has a population of 98 inhabitants. See also * List of municipalities in Zaragoza This is a list of the municip ...

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

, Spain. He studied at the diocesan seminaries of Tarazona and Tudela and at the Pontifical University of Comillas, where he received his doctorate in canon law. He was ordained a priest on 4 July 1942 in

Comillas Comillas is a small township and municipality in the northern reaches of Spain, in the autonomous community of Cantabria. The Marquessate of Comillas, a fiefdom of Spanish nobility, holds ceremonial office in the seat of power at a small castle ...

. He then held a series of posts at the seminary of Tarazona. He completed the course of study at 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 ...

in 1948. He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See and became head of the Spanish language section of the Secretariat of State. He served as Spanish interpreter when groups had private audiences with Popes John XXIII and Paul VI. In 1967 he was named the Secretariat's chief of protocol. On 16 July 1970,

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

named 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 ...

Emerita Augusta Augusta Emerita, also called Emerita Augusta, was a Roman '' colonia'' founded in 25 BC in present day Mérida, Spain. The city was founded by Roman Emperor Augustus to resettle Emeriti soldiers from the veteran legions of the Cantabrian Wars ...

and

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 ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. He received his episcopal consecration from Cardinal Vicente Enrique y Tarancón, Archbishop of Toledo, on 12 September in the Basilica of Pilar in Zaragoza. On 24 November 1977, Pope Paul appointed him

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 ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, but his illness prevented him from taking up that post. While making preparations to move to Mexico, his illness suddenly worsened and he died on 17 January 1978 in Catholic University Hospital in

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital city, capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's Chilean Central Valley, central valley and is the center ...

at the age of 58.

Decorations

* Grand Officer of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (Spain) * Officer of the Merit Civil Order (Spain) * Commander of the Order of the Sun (Peru)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanz Villalba, Sotero 1919 births 1978 deaths Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy alumni Apostolic nuncios to Chile Apostolic nuncios to Mexico People from Tarazona y el Moncayo Spanish expatriates in Chile