Nuncio titular archbishop
Edgar Peña Parra took which position in Feb 2011?
Edgar Peña Parra Edgar Robinson Peña Parra ( born 6 March 1960 ) is a Venezuelan Roman Catholic archbishop . Pope Francis named him Substitute for the Secretariat of State on 15 August 2018 , effective 15 October , making him the highest ranking Venezuelan in the Roman Curia . He joined the diplomatic corps of the Holy See in 1993 , serving as Apostolic Nuncio to Pakistan from 2011 to 2015 and to Mozambique from 2015 to 2018 . He is the first Venezuelan to serve as an Apostolic Nuncio . He is fluent in Spanish , Italian , English , French , Portuguese and Serbo-Croatian . Early years . Edgar Parra was born in Maracaibo , Venezuela , on 6 March 1960 and raised the El Saladillo neighborhood . He earned a degree in philosophy in 1981 at the seminary of the Diocese of San Cristóbal and then a bachelors degree in theology at the seminary in Caracas . He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Maracaibo on 23 August 1985 by Archbishop . In Rome beginning in 1986 , he studied diplomacy at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy and in 1993 he earned a degree in canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University with the thesis : Los Derechos Humanos en el Sistema Interamericano a la luz del Magisterio Pontifical , which , Crux reports , has become a reference point for the study of human rights . Diplomat . Parra joined the diplomatic service of the Holy See on 1 April 1993 . He fulfilled assignments in Kenya , Yugoslavia ( 1997–99 ) , South Africa , Honduras ( 2002–05 ) , and Mexico ( 2006–11 ) , with a brief stint in the office of the Holy Sees representative to the United Nations in Geneva . In Kenya , he represented the Holy See on housing and environmental issues with agencies of the United Nations . In his last assignment before being promoted to nuncio , Parra worked in the Apostolic Nunciature to Mexico first under Giuseppe Bertello and then Christophe Pierre . On 8 January 2011 , Pope Benedict XVI appointed Parra titular archbishop of Thélepte and gave him the title Apostolic Nuncio . On 2 February 2011 Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Pakistan . He received his episcopal consecration on 5 February 2011 from Pope Benedict XVI , with Cardinals Angelo Sodano and Tarcisio Bertone as co-consecrators . On 21 February 2015 , Pope Francis appointed Parra Apostolic Nuncio to Mozambique . In 2016 he joined the group of mediators trying to restore peace between the government of Mozambique and the opposition political party Renamo . Substitute for General Affairs . Parra was appointed Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State on 15 August 2018 , effective 15 October . He is the second Latin American to hold that position , following the Argentine Leonardo Sandri , who was substitute from 2000 to 2007 .