VATICAN CITY, JUNE 10, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI named Archbishop Fernando Filoni as the Vatican's undersecretary of state for general affairs. He was previously the papal nuncio to the Philippines.
The 61-year-old Italian prelate succeeds Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, who has been named prefect for the Congregation for Eastern Churches, the Vatican press office announced today.
The undersecretary, or "sostituto," is the second in charge of the secretariat of state and the principal aide of the cardinal secretary of state. He directs the section of general affairs, one of the two sections of that Vatican dicastery.
The other section, the section of relations with states, is directed by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti.
Fernando Filoni was born in Taranto, Italy, in 1946. He was ordained a priest in July 1970.
Upon entering the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1981, he served in Sri Lanka and in Iran, and worked for the Vatican secretariat of state in Brazil and the Philippines.
In 2001, he was named papal nuncio to Jordan and Iraq. He received episcopal ordination from Pope John Paul II that year.
Archbishop Filoni remained in Baghdad as papal nuncio during the military operation launched in 2003 by a U.S.-led coalition.
In February 2006, he was named papal nuncio to the Philippines.
According to a public declaration on Saturday, Archbishop Filoni considers his nomination "an act of paternal benevolence of the Supreme Pontiff, to whom I answer without trepidation, but with the same availability as in the past and with profound gratitude."
He added: "The stupendous words of Jesus, reported by Luke, on the attitude of service to which he called his disciples succor me with interior aid: 'When you have done everything you have been asked to do, say: We are only servants, we have done our duty.'"
ZE07061004 - 2007-06-10