Filipinos from all over the world were jubilant as Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Bernardito Cleopas Auza as the Permanent Observer of the Holy See (Ambassador) to the United Nations in New York in July 2014. The first Filipino to represent the Vatican before the UN is a native of Talibon, Bohol. After finishing basic education in his hometown, he entered the Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Tagbilaran City. He obtained his Licentiate in Philosophy at the University of Santo Tomas in 1981, Licentiate in Theology and Masters in Education in 1986. He was ordained priest in California, USA, in 1985 and was sent to the Pontifical University of St. Thomas (Angelicum) in Rome, where he obtained a Licentiate in Canon Law in 1989 and a Doctorate in Sacred Theology in 1990, and to the Vatican Diplomatic School (Pontifica Accademia Ecclesiastica), where he finished his diplomatic and linguistic studies in that same year.
Archbishop Auza has a long experience in diplomatic service for the Holy See. He served as secretary to the Apostolic Nunciature in Madagascar, Mauritius, and in Bulgaria. He was appointed counselor in Albania and then served as charge d’ affaires of the Apostolic Nunciature in London. From December 1999 to June 2006, Msgr. Barney worked as counselor at the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat State, in the Vatican. In June 2006, he was appointed First Counselor at the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See in New York. In 2008, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Rev. Monsignor Auza as Titular Archbishop of Suacia and Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti. Holding the rank of Ambassador, the Nuncio is the diplomatic representative of the Holy See in countries with diplomatic relations with the Holy See/Vatican.
The Apostolic Nuncio has the double mandate of representing the Holy Father to the State to which he is accredited, and to the Catholic Church in that country. When a powerful earthquake hit Port-au-Prince in 2010, the Apostolic Nuncio’s voice was the first heard worldwide to give update of the situation as he was instrumental in the outpouring of international aid for the people of Haiti. Archbishop Auza is the only the 4th Filipino Nuncio in our history as Asia’s largest Catholic Nation. In addition to his diplomatic experience, he is regarded as an intellectual powerhouse and his rise in the Catholic Church hierarchy, well-deserved. He speaks fluent Italian, French, and Spanish besides English, Tagalog and his mother tongue.
