Emil Paul Tscherrig (born 3 February 1947) is a Swiss
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 has spent his career in the diplomatic service of the
Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...
. He became an archbishop in 1996 and has since held assignments as Apostolic Nuncio to several countries, most recently to Italy and San Marino.
Biography
He was born in
Unterems
Unterems is a former municipality in the district of Leuk in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. The municipalities of Turtmann and Unterems merged on 1 January 2013 into the new municipality of Turtmann-Unterems.Diocese of Sion.
He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1978. In addition to overseas assignments, he also worked in Rome in the Secretariat of State from 1985 to 1996, assisting in preparations for Pope John Paul's international trips.
On 4 May 1996,
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 ...
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 ...
of Voli and appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Burundi. He received his episcopal consecration from Cardinal
Angelo Sodano
Angelo Raffaele Sodano, GCC (23 November 1927 – 27 May 2022) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church and from 1991 on a cardinal. He was the Dean of the College of Cardinals from 2005 to 2019 and Cardinal Secretary of State from 1991 ...
on 27 June.
On 8 July 2000, John Paul named him Delegate to the Antilles and Nuncio to Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica, Jamaica, Grenada, Guyana, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, and Bahamas. On 20 January 2001, John Paul named him Nuncio to Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, and Suriname as well. On 1 June 2001, he was made Nuncio to Saint Kitts and Nevis as well.
On 22 May 2004 he was named Nuncio to Korea and on 17 June Nuncio to Mongolia as well.
On 26 January 2008
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...
named him Nuncio to Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Norway.
On 5 January 2012 he was named Nuncio to Argentina. On the night of his election to the papacy, Pope Francis called Tscherrig to ask him to inform the Argentine Catholic hierarchy and community that they could miss his investiture as Bishop of Rome and instead perform an act of charity with the money they would have spent.
On 12 September 2017,
Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
named him Nuncio to Italy and San Marino. He was the first non-Italian ever to hold the position of Apostolic Nuncio to Italy.
See also
*
List of heads of the diplomatic missions of the Holy See
The following is a sortable list of the heads of the diplomatic mission of the Holy See. 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 repres ...