The Pope is replacing the Vatican’s “foreign
affairs minister” just days before the sede vacante period starts: Mgr.
Ettore Balestrero is being promoted last minute to the post of Apostolic
Nuncio of Colombia. He is being replaced by Antoine Camilleri, former personal secretary to Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican Secretary for Relations with States.
This is an unusual last minute nomination and an important one, particularly as the key role changeover is taking place at a very delicate moment, just days before Ratzinger leaves the papacy.
Balestrero was born in Genoa in 1966 and was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Rome in 1993. He entered the diplomatic service in 1966 and went on to serve in Korea and the Netherlands.
In 2001 he returned to Rome, entering the Vatican Secretariat of State’s Relations with States section.
In August 2009 he took over from Mgr. Pietro Parolin, who was appointed as Nuncio to Venezuela and became Undersecretary for Relations with States. He has handled some of the Vatican’s most important dossiers to date: the dossier on relations with China, on negotiations with the State of Israel and on transparency and anti-money laundering. Balestrero also headed the Vatican delegation at the Moneyval assembly, he dealt with the latest Vatican Bank (IOR) incidents and he supported René Bruelhart’s appointment as head of the FIA, the Vatican financial information authority.
Balestrero also did a lot for the Vatican’s relations with Europe and European institutions in the fields of ethics and religious freedom. He was one of the Vatican Secretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone’s closest collaborators and built up a strong relationship with Benedict XVI’s personal secretary, Georg Gänswein.
The Nunciature which Balestrero is being promoted to is an important one, although the influence the Genoese prelate has been able to exercise over the past three years was certainly greater in the Secretariat of State’s upper ranks. His departure could become part of the Conclave puzzle.
Balestrero’s post is being taken up by Camilleri, a Maltese prelate who is a year older than him and has served as a diplomat in Papua New Guinea, Uganda and Cuba. Before his current promotion he was personal secretary to the Vatican’s “foreign affairs minister”, Mamberti.