This EWTN News Nightly segment takes us to the Church of St. Benedict Outside St. Paul's Gate, now in possession of the apostolic nuncio to the United States, recently created a Cardinal in the College of Cardinals. At the age of 78, Cardinal Christophe Pierre is able to vote in the next conclave. Sign up with your email below to receive the weekly newsletter from EWTN Vatican to stay up-to-date with faithful reporting from the Vatican and Rome.
Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, took possession of the Deaconry of the Church of St. Benedict Outside St. Paul's Gate to seal his identity as a member of the clergy of Rome.
"After more than 50 years on the road around the world," His Eminence Christophe Pierre told EWTN News Nightly, "the Pope has summoned me back to give me a parish, the parish I never had."
Cardinal Pierre, who was created a Cardinal last year, entered the Vatican diplomatic service in 1977 and has since served at diplomatic missions in several countries around the world.
After several postings as apostolic nuncio in Haiti, Uganda, and Mexico, Pope Francis named Cardinal Pierre apostolic nuncio to the United States in 2016, succeeding the controversial Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò.
Last Sunday, in his homily, Cardinal Pierre shared some of the beauty of serving as a diplomatic representative of the Holy See across the world.
"The life of an apostolic nuncio is the life of a missionary," he shared. "That is why I have loved this life. I have loved traveling all over the world, to nine countries, and encountering diverse experiences because it has forced me out of my comfort zone every time and has been a beautiful and enriching thing."
Further reflecting on the role of a papal nuncio as a missionary, Cardinal Pierre stressed that one word that summarizes the Holy Father's mission for the Church is "encounter."
The Cardinal highlighted that "the work of a priest, the work of a missionary," is precisely to create this encounter—not the encounter of myself with another person, but the encounter of Christ through me or through the other person.
Adapted by Jacob Stein
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Andreas Thonhauser is EWTN Vatican Bureau Chief. He earned a Master of Business Administration from the WU Executive Academy in Vienna and a Master’s degree in German Philology/Anglistics and Americanistics from the University of Vienna. Prior to joining EWTN, Thonhauser worked as the Director of External Affairs for a global human rights organization, and for several media outlets in Vienna, Austria.
