TWO THOMASIAN archbishops have been appointed by the Pope as his envoys to Haiti and South Korea.
Archbishop-elect Bernardito Auza, a counsellor of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations, was named Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti last May 8, the same day he was elevated to archbishop.
Earlier, Pope Benedict XVI named 65-year-old Archbishop Osvaldo Padilla as the fourth Apostolic Nuncio to South Korea last April 26.
Both Auza and Padilla completed their theological studies in the UST Central Seminary and were ordained priests in 1985 and 1966, respectively. Auza, who hails from Bohol, entered the Vatican Diplomatic Service a year after his ordination.
Padilla, who hails from Cebu, was ordained bishop in January 1991 shortly after he was named Apostolic Nuncio to Panama in December 1990. Later he was named Nuncio to Sri Lanka (1994), Nigeria (1998), and Costa Rica (2003).
Apostolic Nuncios act as the permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or an international organization. Nuncios also act as the liaisons between the Holy See and the conference of bishops in the countries to which they are assigned.
According to UST Archives director Fr. Fidel Villaroel, O.P., archbishops are usually chosen to hold the position pf nuncio.
Villaroel, who was one of Padilla’s mentors in the Central Seminary, said it is not uncommon for an apostolic nuncio to represent the Pope in two countries.
Manila Standard Today reported that Padilla is expected to arrive in Seoul, South Korea in July.
Auza joins Padilla, his younger brother Francisco, and Archbishop Adolfo Yllana of Naga City in the growing number of Filipinos who in the Vatican’s corps of diplomnats.
The younger Padilla is the nuncio to the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea while Yllana is the Vatican envoy to Pakistan.
