Renato Martino

Renato Raffaele Martino (born 23 November 1932) is an Italian Cardinal Deacon and President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. He is notable for representing the Holy See in the United Nations.
==Early life==
Born in Salerno, Martino was ordained as a priest in 1957. He holds a doctorate in Canon law and is fluent in Italian, English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. 
After finishing his studies, Martino entered the Vatican's diplomatic service in 1962, serving in Nicaragua, the Philippines, Lebanon, Canada, and Brazil.
==Apostolic Nuncio==
In 1980, Martino was named apostolic pro-nuncio to Thailand and Singapore and apostolic delegate to Laos and Malaysia and was named Archbishop of the titular see of Segerme. In 1983, he was named apostolic delegate to Brunei Darussalam, while retaining his other posts. 
In 1986, he was appointed Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations. He was on duty during the United States invasion of Panama, when President Noriega had taken refuge at the Vatican embassy.
In 1991, he opposed the American-led invasion of Iraq and was later critical of state sanctions against Iraq. In 1992, he participated at the UN Conference for the environment in Rio de Janeiro, speaking about the centrality of the human person. 
In June 1994, Martino demanded at the UN that a safe-haven be created for Tutsi refugees in Rwanda in order to save over 30 000 lives in Kabgayi. Vatican Asks U.N. for 'Safe Area' in Rwanda 
Archbishop Martino was Pope John Paul II's official representative at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, and he had the difficult task of defending the Church's pro-life teachings before a European-American bloc that strongly supported abortion on demand. In the end, however, Martino was able to find support from Latin-American and Arab countries that were anti-abortion, and the Cairo conference was ultimately inconclusive. 
Later in 1995, he participated at the World Conference on Women in Beijing, echoing John Paul's positions in his letter to women. He has been on diplomatic mission to Ivory Coast to settle disputes there.
==President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace==
On 1 October 2002, Martino was named President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. He became a member of the College of Cardinals in 2003. Martino was named President of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants on March 11, 2006.
Martino was elevated to the College of Cardinals in the consistory of 21 October 2003 becoming Cardinal-Deacon of S. Francesco di Paola ai Monti. Martino was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI.
Concerning the case of Terri Schiavo, Martino publicly intervened in order to save Terri, to no avail. 
On 6 November 2006, after the death sentence had been passed on Saddam Hussein, Martino said that: ...punishing a crime with another crime – which is what killing for vengeance is – would mean that we are still at the point of demanding an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth... He pleaded for clemency for Hussein and called for a peace conference aimed at solving all the major conflicts in the Middle East and reiterated his position that invasion of Iraq by U.S.-led coalition was wrong.
Cardinal Martino has taken a great interest in automobiles and has proclaimed the Ten Commandments for Drivers. He has collaborated with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile and has condemned activities of Oswald Mosley as immoral.
On the topic of genetically modified organisms, he has advocated a cautious use of GMOs, asserting that they may indeed help feed the hungry, although they will most likely not solve all food problems on earth. 
On 14 June 2007, Martino urged Catholics to withhold donations to Amnesty International in response to the group's decision to advocate in favor of access to abortion in rare cases, which placed Amnesty in conflict with the Catholic view of the human fetus as a rights-holder. 
Later in 2007, he participated in the Annapolis conference on peace in the Holy Land. He has led high-level diplomatic talks between Israelis and Palestinians, and has much experience in Mideast diplomacy. He has represented the Vatican view of moral equivalence and has said that both sides are "guilty" and that it is "necessary to separate them, like two fighting siblings are separated", and make them "sit down to negotiate. ZENIT article
Speaking on the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict Cardinal Martino said that "The consequences of egoism are hatred, poverty and injustice. It's always the unarmed populations who pay. Look at the conditions in Gaza -- more and more, it resembles a huge concentration camp." In response to this the Israeli government said that Cardinal Martino had swallowed "'Hamas propaganda" and invited him to reflect and apologize for what it called his inflammatory message.
===Retirement===
On 23 November 2007 at the age of 75, Cardinal Martino sent his resignation to Pope Benedict. On 28 February 2009, Pope Benedict relieved Cardinal Martino of the presidency of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples and appointed Archbishop Antonio Maria Vegliò, who had been Secretary of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, to the post. On 24 October 2009, Pope Benedict named as successor to Cardinal Martino as President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace Cardinal Peter Turkson, formerly Archbishop of Cape Coast, Ghana. Cardinal Martino remains a member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See and the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State.
==External links==
* Biography at catholic-pages.com
Category:Permanent Observers of the Holy See to the United Nations
Category:Italian cardinals
Category:1932 births
Category:Living people
Category:People from Salerno
Category:Alumni of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy
Category:Roman Catholic titular archbishops
Category:Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
Category:Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants
Category:Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II
ca:Renato Raffaele Martino
de:Renato Raffaele Martino
es:Renato Raffaele Martino
fr:Renato Martino
it:Renato Raffaele Martino
la:Renatus Raphael Martino
nl:Renato Martino
no:Renato Raffaele Martino
pl:Renato Raffaele Martino
pt:Renato Raffaele Martino
ro:Renato Raffaele Martino
ru:Мартино, Ренато Раффаэле
sv:Renato Raffaele Martino