Titular Archbishop Nuncio
Which position did Dominique Mamberti hold from May 2002 to Feb 2004?
Dominique Mamberti Dominique François Joseph Mamberti ( born 7 March 1952 ) is the Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura in the Roman Curia . He was elevated to the cardinalate by Pope Francis in 2015 . Biography . Early life and education . Dominique Mamberti was born in Marrakesh , Morocco , on 7 March 1952 and was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Ajaccio , France , on 20 September 1981 . He has academic degrees in civil and canon law . He entered the Holy Sees diplomatic service and worked in the apostolic nunciatures in Algeria , Chile and Lebanon , in the Holy Sees office at United Nations headquarters in New York City and in the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State ( Holy See ) . Mamberti is considered an expert on Latin America , the United Nations , Africa , the Middle East and Islam . Archbishop . On 18 May 2002 , Pope John Paul II appointed him Titular Archbishop of Sagona and Apostolic Nuncio to Sudan and Apostolic Delegate to Somalia . He received episcopal consecration from Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano on 3 July 2002 . On 19 February 2004 , he was also appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Eritrea and Somalia was removed from his remit . Secretary for Relations with States . He was appointed Secretary for Relations with States by Pope Benedict XVI on 15 September 2006 . This post is generally seen as the equivalent of Foreign Minister of the Holy See . In 2007 Archbishop Mamberti was awarded the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic . At a meeting in September 2009 between the Kosovan Foreign Minister , Skënder Hyseni , and Mamberti , the Holy Sees Secretary for Relations with States , Archbishop Mamberti said that the Holy See was closely following developments in and around Kosovo , and he expressed his willingness to continue and intensify mutual communications . Following a meeting in November 2009 between the Serbian President Boris Tadić and Pope Benedict XVI , Tadić said that the Vatican supported Serbias integration and membership within the EU and the sovereignty and preservation of its territorial integrity . In September 2007 , Mamberti orchestrated the first official visit between an Arab Head of State , Sudans President Omar el-Bashir and Pope Benedict . The visit took place at the Popes Summer residence , Castel Gandolfo . Shortly after this groundbreaking event , the King of Saudi Arabia met the Pope . This marked the beginning of a new period of Catholic-Muslim relations . In June 2010 , Mamberti visited Cuba and spent several days on the island , marking 75 years of diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Cuba and participating in a national conference on the churchs social teachings . He met with President Raul Castro , saying afterward that bilateral relations are cordial , continuing and on the rise . The visit of ( Archbishop ) Mamberti also showed the favorable development of relations between the state and the Catholic Church in Cuba , the governments note said . Mamberti , addressing the United Nations , in September 2011 , called for courageous decisions toward the two-state solution for the Holy Land after Palestinian leaders requested full U.N . membership for the Palestinian state . Archbishop Dominique Mamberti did not say whether the Vatican explicitly supported the Palestinians U.N . initiative . He added that the Vatican viewed the Palestinian bid in the perspective of efforts to find a definitive solution to the Israeli-Palestinian question – an issue addressed by a U.N . resolution of 1947 that foresaw the creation of two states . One of them has already been created , while the other has not yet been established , although nearly 64 years have passed . The Holy See is convinced that if we want peace , it is necessary to adopt courageous decisions , he said . At the opening of the UN General Assembly in September 2012 , Mamberti said that international law is solidly based upon the dignity and nature of humanity—in other words , upon the natural law . He called the UN delegates attention to the language of the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights , which affirm the importance of the natural law . International law will earn recognition and respect , he said , if it is recognised as protecting every person and nation , not favouring the powerful . Such will be possible , he said , if legislation at the international level is marked by respect for the dignity of the human person , beginning with the centrality of the right to life and to freedom of religion . In a separate address in early October 2012 , Mamberti spoke of the theme of the assembly was the Adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations by peaceful means . In his French-language address , he lamented a loss of faith in the value of dialogue , and the temptation to favor a priori one of the sides in regional and national conflicts , saying that this threatens respect for the juridical mechanisms of the United Nations . Archbishop Mamberti referred specifically to situations in the Middle East , particularly in Syria , A solution is impossible if it fails to respect the rules of international and humanitarian law , or falls outside the mechanisms established in the United Nations Charter , he stated . All interested parties should not only facilitate the mission of the special envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League , but also ensure humanitarian assistance to the suffering peoples . The international community must unite its efforts so that all sides replace the race to arms with negotiation , just as it must insist on effective respect for religious liberty , human rights and all fundamental freedoms . On 16 January 2013 , Mamberti gave an interview to Vatican Radio about the Catholic Churchs autonomy and religious freedom . He defended the right to a conscience clause for Christian employers who refused services to homosexuals . He opposed increasing Secularism . In July 2014 commenting on the situation in Gaza , Mamberti sent a formal note to all the ambassadors accredited to the Holy See , calling their attention to the appeals by Pope Francis for Christians in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East . Mamberti said that the Holy See is deeply concerned with the suffering of Christians in the region . Christian communities are suffering unjustly , they are scared , and many Christians have been forced to emigrate , he said . Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura . On 8 November 2014 , Pope Francis appointed Mamberti as Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura , the final court of appeal for any ecclesiastical judgment , besides the Pope himself . Then-Archbishop Mamberti succeeded Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke , who was named Patron to the Order of Malta . Cardinal . On 4 January 2015 , Pope Francis announced that he would make Archbishop Mamberti a cardinal on 14 February . At the ceremony , he was appointed Cardinal-Deacon of the titular church of Santo Spirito in Sassia . On Monday , 13 April 2015 , Cardinal Mamberti was named a Member of the Board of the Cardinals and Bishops for the Section for Relations with States of the Vatican Cardinal Secretary of States office , a Member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments , and a Member of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints . These memberships are at the pleasure of the Pope , for a five-year-term that can be renewed , and the Cardinal will have the right to be a Member or Consultor to any Vatican Roman Curia office until he turns 80 , at which time he usually must resign his office ( unless asked to stay by the Pope , and if he hasnt already resigned at the normal age of 75 ) and will lose the right to vote in a Papal Conclave . On 4 October 2017 he was appointed a member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples .