Apostolic Nuncio to Spain Nuncio
Which position did Bernardito Auza hold from Oct 2019 to Oct 2020?
Bernardito Auza Bernardito Cleopas Auza is a Filipino prelate of the Catholic Church . He is the current Apostolic Nuncio to Spain , appointed to that position on 01 October 2019 . Prior to this , he served under the diplomatic service of the Holy See , as well as being the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations from 2014 to 2019 . Early life . Auza was born on 10 June 1959 , in Balintawak , Talibon , Bohol , Philippines , the eighth of twelve children of Meliton Garcia Auza and Magdalena Polestico Cleopas . After preliminary education in Talibon , he entered the Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Tagbilaran City . He then enrolled at the University of Santo Tomas , Manila , where he obtained his Licentiate in Philosophy in 1981 , Licentiate in Theology in 1986 , and Masters in Education also in 1986 . Auza was ordained a priest by Bishop Daniel Francis Walsh of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa in California on 29 June 1985 . At the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas ( Angelicum ) , he obtained a Licentiate in Canon Law in 1989 and a Doctorate in Sacred Theology in 1990 . He attended the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy to prepare for a diplomats career . He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See on 1 June 1990 and worked in Madagascar and the South Indian Ocean ( 1990–93 ) , Bulgaria ( 1993–96 ) , Albania ( 1997–98 ) , the Secretariat of State in the Section for Relations with States ( 1999–2006 ) , and the Permanent Mission of the Holy See to the UN ( 2006–08 ) . Apostolic Nuncio . On 8 May 2008 , Pope Benedict XVI named Auza Titular Archbishop of Suacia and Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti . He was consecrated as a bishop on 3 July 2008 by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone , Secretary of State . On 2 July 2014 , Pope Francis appointed him Permanent Observer to the United Nations in New York representing the Holy See . On 16 July , his responsibilities were expanded to include the role of Permanent Observer to the Organization of American States ( OAS ) . In October 2014 Auza called for a broad definition of the term “rule of law” that includes respect , dignity , and justice . The rule of law should be “both rationally and morally grounded upon the substantial principles of justice , including the inalienable dignity and value of every human person prior to any law or social consensus,” said Archbishop Berardito Auza , the nuncio , in a statement made during a committee meeting at the UN General Assembly . “As a consequence of the recognition of this dignity , those elements of fundamental justice such as respect for the principle of legality,” Archbishop Auza said , “the presumption of innocence and the right to due process.” Among nations , he added , the rule of law should mean “the paramount respect of human rights , equality of the rights of nations ; and respect for international customary law , treaties … and other sources of international law . This definition , with its reference point in the natural law , sidesteps self-referential definitional frameworks and anchors the orientation of the rule of law within the ultimate and essential goal of all law , namely to promote and guarantee the dignity of the human person and the common good.” In the same speech he noted the Vatican’s hope that “the alarming , escalating phenomenon of international terrorism , new in some of its expressions and utterly ruthless in its barbarity , be an occasion for a deeper and more urgent study on how to re-enforce the international juridical framework of a multilateral application of our common responsibility to protect people from all forms of unjust aggression.” His assignment to the OAS ended on 31 August 2019 . Pope Francis appointed him apostolic nuncio to Spain and to Andorra on 1 October 2019 .