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 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 worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See since 1985. He represented the Holy See, either as

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 ...

Apostolic Delegate 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 o ...

, to the several countries on the Arabian Peninsula. 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 ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Sugbo; fil, Lungsod ng Cebu; hil, Dakbanwa sang Sugbo), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines and capital of the Cebu Province. Acco ...

, 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 Julio Cardinal Rosales y Ras (September 18, 1906 – June 2, 1983), the second Archbishop of Cebu, was a Filipino cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. A native of Calbayog, he made his studies at the Seminary of Calbayog and was ordained in h ...

. He then continued his studies in Rome, earning degrees at Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas. 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 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 soverei ...

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 ...

Nebbio The canton of Biguglia-Nebbio is an administrative division of the Haute-Corse department, southeastern France. It was created at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Biguglia. It consists of the f ...

and Apostolic Nuncio to Papua New Guinea and the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

. 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 ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

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. ...

appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

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

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

and

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

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

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

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

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

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

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

Notes

See also

References

External links