New Papal Envoy for the Republic of Tanzania

POPE Benedict XVI has appointed a Filipino as the next papal envoy in the Republic of Tanzania.

The Pontiff named Archbishop Francisco Montecillo Padilla as nuncio to the East African nation last November 10. Before his new appointment Archbishop Padilla was the apostolic nuncio in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands since May 2006.

An article posted on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) website revealed that Archbishop Padilla will take over the post left vacant by Archbishop Joseph Chennoth, who was named apostolic nuncio to Japan last August.

Archbishop Francisco Montecillo Padilla was born on September 17, 1953 at Cepu, in Philippines and was ordained priest on October 21, 1976 and Bishop on May 23, 2006. He reportedly completed his elementary education at the Colegio de Sto. Niño de Cebu. He entered the Pope John XIII Minor Seminary in Cebu City, and subsequently took his Philosophical studies at the Seminario Mayor de San Carlos in the same province.

He then took his Theological studies and earned his Bachelor and Licentiate Degrees in Sacred Theology (STB and STL) from the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Central Seminary in España, Manila.

In 1985, shortly before joining the church’s diplomatic service, Padilla earned his Doctoral Degree in Sacred Theology (STD) and his Licentiate in Canon Law (JCL), graduating summa cum laude (with highest academic honors), from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

He is reportedly the third Filipino nuncio and the second to come from Cebu. The first Filipino nuncio who also hailed from Cebu is Padilla’s elder brother Archbishop Osvaldo Padilla, who was named in 1990 by the late Pope John Paul II as the apostolic nuncio to Panama.

Since April 2008, Osvaldo has been detailed as the Vatican’s envoy to Mongolia. The other Filipino nuncio is Archbishop Adolfo Tito Yllana who is from Naga City. He is currently the papal nuncio to the Democratic Republic of Congo.