By Verghese V Joseph –
The Holy Father has appointed His Excellency Monsignor Giambattista Diquattro, Titular Archbishop of Giromonte, currently Apostolic Nuncio to India and Nepal, as Apostolic Nuncio to Brazil. He has been the Nuncio in India since January 21, 2017.
Monsignor Diquattro was born on 18 March 1954, in Bologna, the capital and the largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy and was ordained a priest for the diocese of Ragusa in 1981. He received his master’s degree in civil law from the University of Catania, his Doctorate in Canon Law (JCD) from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, and his master’s degree in dogmatic theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
Earlier, Pope John Paul II had appointed him apostolic nuncio to Panama on 2 April 2005. Thereafter, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Bolivia on 21 November 2008.
The Italian Archbishop who joined the Vatican Diplomatic Service in 1985 has since served in several key positions as Apostolic Nuncio to Bolivia, diplomatic positions in the pontifical representations of the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Chad, Vatican Secretariat of state, as Vatican representative in the UN in New York, in the Apostolic Nunciature in Italy and also as Apostolic Nuncio of Panama. The Prelate speaks fluent Italian, French, Spanish and English.