Renato Martino
| His Eminence Renato Raffaele Martino | |
|---|---|
| President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace | |
| Appointed | 1 October 2002 |
| Term ended | 24 October 2009 |
| Predecessor | François-Xavier Nguyên Van Thuán |
| Successor | Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson |
| Other posts | Cardinal-Deacon of S. Francesco di Paola ai Monti |
| Orders | |
| Ordination |
20 June 1957 by Demetrio Moscato |
| Consecration |
14 December 1980 by Agostino Casaroli |
| Created Cardinal |
21 October 2003 by Pope John Paul II |
| Rank | Cardinal-Deacon |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Renato Raffaele Martino |
| Born |
23 November 1932 Salerno, Italy |
| Nationality | Italian and Vatican |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Previous post |
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| Alma mater | Pontifical Gregorian University, Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy |
| Motto | Virtus ex Alto |
| Coat of arms |
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| Styles of Renato Martino | |
|---|---|
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| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
Renato Raffaele Martino (born 23 November 1932) is an Italian Cardinal Deacon and president Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. He is notable for representing the Holy See in the United Nations.
Early life
Born in Salerno, Martino was ordained as a priest in 1957. He holds a doctorate in Canon law and is fluent in Italian, English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.
After finishing his studies, Martino entered the Vatican's diplomatic service in 1962, serving in Nicaragua, the Philippines, Lebanon, Canada, and Brazil.
Apostolic Nuncio
In 1980, Martino was named apostolic pro-nuncio to Thailand and Singapore and apostolic delegate to Laos and Malaysia and was named Archbishop of the titular see of Segerme. In 1983, he was named apostolic delegate to Brunei Darussalam, while retaining his other posts.
In 1986, he was appointed Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations. He was on duty during the United States invasion of Panama, when president Noriega had taken refuge at the Vatican embassy.
In 1991, he opposed the American-led invasion of Iraq and was later critical of state sanctions against Iraq. In 1992, he participated at the UN Conference for the environment in Rio de Janeiro, speaking about the centrality of the human person.
In June 1994, Martino demanded at the UN that a safe haven be created for Tutsi refugees in Rwanda in order to save over 30 000 lives in Kabgayi.[1]
Archbishop Martino was Pope John Paul II's official representative at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, and he had the difficult task of defending the Church's pro-life teachings before a European-American bloc that strongly supported abortion on demand. In the end, however, Martino was able to find support from Latin-American and Arab countries that were anti-abortion, and the Cairo conference was ultimately inconclusive.
Later in 1995, he participated at the World Conference on Women in Beijing, echoing John Paul's positions in his letter to women. He has been on diplomatic mission to Côte d'Ivoire to settle disputes there.
President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
On 1 October 2002, Martino was named President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. He became a member of the College of Cardinals in 2003. Martino was named President of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants on 11 March 2006.
Martino was elevated to the College of Cardinals in the consistory of 21 October 2003 becoming Cardinal-Deacon of S. Francesco di Paola ai Monti. Martino was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI.
Concerning the case of Terri Schiavo, Martino publicly intervened in order to save Terri, to no avail.[2]
On 6 November 2006, after the death sentence had been passed on Saddam Hussein, Martino said that:...punishing a crime with another crime – which is what killing for vengeance is – would mean that we are still at the point of demanding an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth...He pleaded for clemency for Hussein and called for a peace conference aimed at solving all the major conflicts in the Middle East and reiterated his position that invasion of Iraq by U.S.-led coalition was wrong.
Cardinal Martino has taken a great interest in automobiles and has proclaimed the Ten Commandments for Drivers. He has collaborated with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile and has condemned activities of Oswald Mosley as immoral.
On the topic of genetically modified organisms, he has advocated a cautious use of GMOs, asserting that they may indeed help feed the hungry, although they will most likely not solve all food problems on earth.
On 14 June 2007, Martino urged Catholics to withhold donations to Amnesty International in response to the group's decision to advocate in favor of access to abortion in rare cases, which placed Amnesty in conflict with the Catholic view of the human fetus as a rights-holder.
Later in 2007, he participated in the Annapolis conference on peace in the Holy Land. He has led high-level diplomatic talks between Israelis and Palestinians, and has much experience in Mideast diplomacy. He has represented the Vatican view of moral equivalence and has said that both sides are "guilty" and that it is "necessary to separate them, like two fighting siblings are separated", and make them "sit down to negotiate.[3]
Speaking on the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict Cardinal Martino said that "The consequences of egoism are hatred, poverty and injustice. It's always the unarmed populations who pay. Look at the conditions in Gaza – more and more, it resembles a huge concentration camp."
Retirement
On 23 November 2007 at the age of 75, Cardinal Martino sent his resignation to Pope Benedict. On 28 February 2009, Pope Benedict relieved Cardinal Martino of the presidency of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples and appointed Archbishop Antonio Maria Vegliò, who had been Secretary of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, to the post. On 24 October 2009, Pope Benedict named as successor to Cardinal Martino as president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace Cardinal Peter Turkson, formerly Archbishop of Cape Coast, Ghana. Cardinal Martino remains a member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See and the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State.
In July 2010, Cardinal Martino assumed the position of Honorary President of the Dignitatis Humanae Institute, a Rome based organisation established to promote human dignity 'based on the recognition that man is made in the image and likeness of God.'
In November 2010 Cardinal Martino was appointed by His Royal Highness Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro as Grand Prior of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George. In June 25, 2012 His Royal Highness Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro appointed him as Knight of the Illustrious Royal Order of Saint Januarius
On 8 October 2011, he was named special papal envoy to the celebration of the centenary of the cathedral of Yangon, Burma, programmed for 8 December 2011. Cardinal Martino will meet Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi, a Buddhist, who will be in attendance. Representatives of all religions in Burma, where Catholics represent only around one percent of the population, are being invited to the event, when Martino will read a message from Pope Benedict XVI. The envoy will then have lunch with local clergy and "special guests". The pope called on Martino to transmit "a message of goodwill" to political and religious authorities in Myanmar, where the military dictatorship has made a number of gestures of greater openness in recent months.[4]
On November 23, 2012, Renato Raffaele Martino turned 80 years old and lost the right to participate in a papal conclave[5] and so did not participate in the 2013 conclave which elected Pope Francis. However, Cardinal Martino was one of the six cardinals who made the public act of obedience on behalf of the College of Cardinals to the new pope at his papal inauguration.[lower-alpha 1][6][7]
Notes
- ↑ The other five cardinals were Giovanni Battista Re, Tarcisio Bertone, Joachim Meisner, Jozef Tomko and Francesco Marchisano. Cardinals Re and Bertone represented the cardinal-bishops; Cardinals Meisner and Tomko represented the cardinal-priests while Cardinal Marchisano along with Cardinal Martino himself represented the cardinal-deacons.
References
- ↑ Vatican Asks U.N. for 'Safe Area' in Rwanda
- ↑
- ↑ ZENIT article
- ↑ Vatican envoy to meet Suu Kyi in Myanmar this week
- ↑ "MARTINO, Renato Raffaele". Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church.
- ↑ Rolandi, Luca (2013-03-19). "Il giorno di Papa Francesco: La messa di inizio pontificato in Piazza San Pietro" (in Italian). Retrieved 2013-10-15.
- ↑ Inaugural Mass of the Pontificate (Vatican video of Pope Francis' papal inauguration on YouTube
External links
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| Preceded by Silvio Luoni |
Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Thailand and to Singapore, Apostolic Delegate to Laos and to Malaysia 14 September 1980–3 December 1986 |
Succeeded by Alberto Tricarico |
| Preceded by none |
Apostolic Delegate to Brunei Darussalam 1983–3 December 1986 |
Succeeded by Adriano Bernardini |
| Preceded by Giovanni Cheli |
Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations 3 December 1986–1 October 2002 |
Succeeded by Celestino Migliore |
| Preceded by Nguyen Van Thuan |
President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace 1 October 2002–24 October 2009 |
Succeeded by Peter Turkson |
| Preceded by Pietro Pavan |
Cardinal-Deacon of San Francesco di Paola ai Monti 21 October 2003–present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by Stephen Fumio Hamao |
President of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples 11 March 2006–28 February 2009 |
Succeeded by Antonio Maria Vegliò |