Christophe Pierre
| His Excellency Christophe Pierre |
|
|---|---|
| Apostolic Nuncio to the United States; Titular Archbishop of Gunela |
|
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 5 April 1970 by Paul Joseph Marie Gouyon |
| Consecration | 24 September 1995 by Angelo Sodano |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Christophe Louis Yves Georges Pierre |
| Born | January 30, 1946 Rennes, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Previous post | Apostolic Nuncio to Mexico Apostolic nuncio to Haiti Apostolic nuncio to Uganda |
| Styles of Christophe Pierre |
|
|---|---|
.svg) |
|
| Reference style | |
| Spoken style | Your Excellency |
| Religious style | Archbishop |
Christophe Louis Yves Georges Pierre (born 30 January 1946) is French-born Roman Catholic prelate and diplomat in the service of the Holy See. An archbishop since 1995, he was appointed the apostolic nuncio (ambassador) to the United States on 12 April 2016, after serving as nuncio to Mexico from 2007 to 2016. He previously held the post of nuncio to Haiti and Uganda.
Biography
Christophe Pierre was born in Rennes on 20 January 1946 to a family with roots for many generations in Brittany. He first attended school at Antsirabé in Madagascar and pursued his secondary studies at the College of Saint-Malo. He also spent one year in Morocco at Lycée français of Marrakesh.
He entered the Catholic seminary of Saint-Yves in Rennes in 1963, but interrupted his studies for two years of military service in 1965 and 1966. He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Rennes at the Cathedral of Saint-Malo on 5 April 1970.
He obtained his master's degree in theology at the Institut Catholique de Paris and his doctorate in canon law in Rome.
He served as vicar of the parish of Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul de Colombes in the Diocese of Nanterre from 1970 to 1973.
He then earned a diploma at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome, the Holy See's school for diplomacy. He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1977, serving first in Wellington, New Zealand. He then held posts in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Brésil, and at the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in Geneva in Geneva.
On 12 July 1995, Pope John Paul II named him apostolic nuncio to Haiti and named him titular archbishop of Gunela. He was consecrated archbishop by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Cardinal Secretary of State on 24 September in the Cathedral of Saint-Malo. In Haiti, which had experienced years of church-state conflict, he was described as non-political, and he arranged for Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to be released from his vows as a priest.[1]
On 10 May 1999, he was transferred to Kampala, Uganda. In 2000, he campaigned against the Ugandan government's promotion of condom use to prevent the spread of AIDS.[2] After Vice President Speciosa Kazibwe, herself a doctor, promoted condom use during a national tour and complained that religious leaders were hampering the government's public health efforts, Pierre said that condoms promoted "outright promiscuity" that would increase the incidence of AIDS.[3] Years later, he linked Uganda's success in fighting AIDS to the Church's abstinence education strategy.[4]
On 22 March 2007, Pope Benedict XVI named him apostolic nuncio to Mexico.[5] After Pope Francis sharply criticized the Mexican bishops during his visit to Mexico in February 2016,[6] an editorial in the newspaper of the Mexico City archdiocese objected to the Pope's criticism and asked: Does the Pope have some reason for scolding Mexican bishops? ... [Do] the improvised words of the Holy Father respond to bad advice from someone close to him? Who gave the Pope bad advice?"[7] Pierre was generally recognized as the target of the editorial and the source of the "bad advice".[8]
Pope Francis named him nuncio to the United States on 12 April 2016.[9]
References
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
Cite error: Invalid <references> tag; parameter "group" is allowed only.
<references />, or <references group="..." />External links
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti 12 July 1995 – 10 May 1999 |
Succeeded by Luigi Bonazzi |
| Preceded by | Apostolic Nuncio to Uganda 10 May 1999 – 22 March 2007 |
Succeeded by Paul Tschang In-Nam |
| Preceded by | Apostolic Nuncio to Mexico 22 March 2007 – 12 April 2016 |
Vacant |
| Preceded by | Apostolic Nuncio to the United States 12 April 2016-present |
Incumbent |
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Pages with reference errors
- Living people
- 1946 births
- Apostolic Nuncios to Haiti
- Apostolic Nuncios to Mexico
- Apostolic Nuncios to Uganda
- Apostolic Nuncios to the United States
- Diplomats of the Holy See
- Roman Catholic titular archbishops
- Catholic Institute of Paris alumni
- Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy alumni
