Blasco Francisco Collaço (born 16 May 1931) is an Indian

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

who spent his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See, including 30 years as an

apostolic nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; 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 org ...

Biography

Collaço was born in

Raia, Goa Raia (''Rai'') is a scenic village on the outskirts of Margao in Salcete Taluk in South Goa District of Goa State, India. It is located six kilometres east from the district headquarters of Margao and 35 kilometres from the State capital Panaji. ...

, India, on 16 May 1931. He attended the Seminary of Rachol from 1941 to 1953. He was ordained a priest on 2 May 1954. Studying from 1954 to 1957 at Rome's

Pontifical Urban University The Pontifical Urban University, also called the ''Urbaniana'' after its names in both Latin and Italian,; it, Pontificia Università Urbaniana. is a pontifical university under the authority of the Congregation for the Evangelization of People ...

, he earned a doctorate in canon law. He spent the next year at the

Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences ( la, Pontificia Academia Scientiarum Socialium, or PASS) is a pontifical academy established on 1 January 1994 by Pope John Paul II and is headquartered in the Casina Pio IV in Vatican City. It operate ...

. To prepare for a diplomatic career he entered the

Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy The Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy ( la, Pontificia Ecclesiastica Academia, it, Pontificia Accademia Ecclesiastica) is one of the Roman Colleges of the Catholic Church. The academy is dedicated to training priests to serve in the diplomatic c ...

in 1959. He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1961 and filled assignments in Colombia, Australia (an office with responsibility for New Zealand and Oceania), France, Scandinavia, and Honduras. Beginning in 1976, he worked in the Roman Curia in the Office of Public Affairs. On 23 September 1977,

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo 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, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

named Apostolic Nuncio to Panama and a

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 ...

. He was consecrated a bishop on 5 November 1977 by Cardinal

Jean-Marie Villot Jean-Marie Villot (11 October 1905 – 9 March 1979) was a French prelate and Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Lyon from 1965 to 1967, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy from 1967 to 1969, Vatican Secre ...

. He was the first Indian and the first Goan priest to have the title of "Nuncio". On 26 July 1982,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

appointed him apostolic nuncio to the Dominican Republic. He became Apostolic Delegate to Puerto Rico that year as well. On 28 February 1991, Pope John Paul named him Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Madagascar and Mauritius. He added the title apostolic nuncio to Seychelles on 4 May 1994. On 13 April 1996, Pope John Paul appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Bulgaria, where the Church and the government remained at odds over the restitution of Church property since the collapse of Communism in 1989. On 24 May 2000, he appointed Collaço Apostolic Nuncio to South Africa and to Namibia, and Apostolic Delegate to Botswana. On 24 June 2000, he added the responsibilities of Apostolic Nuncio to Lesotho and to Swaziland. Collaço retired from these positions in August 2006. He appears as a character in the novel ''The Fifth Gospel'' by

Ian Caldwell Ian Mackinnon Caldwell is an American novelist known for co-authoring the 2004 novel '' The Rule of Four''. His second book, ''The Fifth Gospel'', was published in 2015. Personal life Caldwell was born and raised in Fairfax County, Virginia dur ...

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