Cardinal Raffaele Martino has died at the age of 91
The funeral of Cardinal Raffaele Martino will take place on October 31 in St. Peter’s Basilica. He was a permanent observer to the United Nations in New York for sixteen years and later headed the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People as well as the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
By Vatican News
Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino died on the morning of October 28 in Rome. He was 91 years old. He was cardinal protodeacon, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People.
Born in Salerno, Italy, on November 23, 1932, he was ordained a priest on June 20, 1957 and received his degree in canon law. He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1962 and worked in the apostolic nunciatures of Nicaragua, the Philippines, Lebanon, Canada and Brazil. Between 1970 and 1975, he headed the International Organizations Section of the Secretariat of State. In 1986, he was appointed Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York. In this capacity, he actively participated in major international conferences promoted by the UN.
After sixteen years at the United Nations in New York, John Paul II called him to head the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace on October 1, 2002. He succeeded in this position the French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray and the Vietnamese Cardinal François-Xavier Nguyên Van Thuân. From the beginning of his mandate, Cardinal Martino focused his attention on the difficult situation in Venezuela and the serious civil conflict in Ivory Coast. He spoke in particular about the tragic situation in the Middle East.
John Paul II created him cardinal during the Consistory of October 21, 2003. On October 25, 2004, the Dicastery he headed published the long-awaited Collection of the social doctrine of the Church. In March 2005, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, in collaboration with several Catholic academic institutions, organized an international congress at the Vatican to mark the 40th anniversary of the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes of the Second Vatican Council. Since October 24, 2009, he has been president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. The Cardinal has received numerous honorary degrees and distinctions due to his continued work in favor of peaceful and fruitful relations between peoples, humanities and culture.
The funeral will take place on Wednesday October 30 at 3 p.m. at the altar of the Chair of Saint Peter’s Basilica. The liturgy will be celebrated by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, alongside cardinals, archbishops and bishops. At the end of the celebration, Pope Francis will preside over the rites of Ultima Commendatio and Valedictio.
With the death of Cardinal Martino, the College of Cardinals has 233 cardinals, including 121 electors and 112 non-electors.
