Mario Tagliaferri (1 June 1927 – 21 May 1999) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who 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 1970 and served as an Apostolic Nuncio from then until his death.

Biography

Mario Tagliaferri was born in

Alatri Alatri ( la, Aletrium) is an Italian town and ''comune'' of the province of Frosinone in the region of Lazio, with c. 30,000 inhabitants. An ancient city of the Hernici,Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hernici". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed. ...

(

Frosinone Frosinone (, local dialect: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, the administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is located about south-east of Rome close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of the Va ...

), Italy, on 1 June 1927. He was ordained a priest on 5 August 1950. 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 1952. He joined the diplomatic service in 1954 and his early assignments took him to the Dominican Republic, the United States, Canada and Brazil. On 5 March 1970,

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 him 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 ...

and Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Central African Republic, as well as Apostolic Delegate to the Republic of the Congo and Chad. He received his episcopal consecration on 7 May from 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 Secret ...

. On 25 June 1975, Pope Paul appointed him Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Cuba. On 15 December 1978,

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 Nuncio to Peru. In that capacity, he signed on behalf of the Pope the ''Agreement between the Holy See and the Republic of Peru'' (July 26, 1980). On 20 July 1985, Pope John Paul named him Nuncio to Spain. After Tagliaferri had been nuncio there for three years, Cardinal

Vicente Enrique y Tarancón Vicente Enrique y Tarancón (14 May 1907 – 28 November 1994), known in his country as ''Cardenal Tarancón'' or ''Tarancón'', was a Spanish cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Madrid from 1971 to 1983, and as pre ...

, Archbishop of Madrid, complained that he still acted like a typical nuncio in South American, where nuncios are accustomed to giving orders, a style unfamiliar to the Spanish Church, which he helped give a more conservative character. On 13 July 1995, Pope John Paul named him Nuncio to France. ''

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...

'' expressed surprise that he was sent to France rather than brought to Rome and made a cardinal now that he was 68. He took up that post on 16 October 1995 and established a routine–unusual for a nuncio–of regular visits to dioceses around the country. An official with the Conference of French Bishops recalled: "The more he was invited, the happier he was." He died on 21 May 1999, shortly before his 72nd birthday.

References

External links

Catholic Hierarchy: Archbishop Mario Tagliaferri
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tagliaferri, Mario 1927 births 1999 deaths Apostolic Nuncios to the Central African Republic Apostolic Nuncios to the Republic of the Congo Apostolic Nuncios to Chad Apostolic Nuncios to Cuba Apostolic Nuncios to Peru Apostolic Nuncios to Spain Apostolic Nuncios to France 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic titular archbishops