Leonardo Sandri (born November 18, 1943) is an Argentine prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the current Pro-Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, having been appointed by Pope Benedict XVI on June 9, 2007.Sandri is a polyglot who besides his native Spanish, he speaks Italian, French, English and German.
On 17 October 2007, Pope Benedict XVI announced that he would make Sandri a Cardinal.
Sandri has now been elevated to the College of Cardinals in the consistory at St. Peter's Basilica on today, November 24, 2007.
Born in Buenos Aires, Sandri was ordained a priest there on December 2, 1967. He was educated at the Metropolitan Seminary of Buenos Aires and the Theological Faculty, Buenos Aires where he was awarded a licentiate in theology.
He continued his studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome where he studied for a doctorate in canon law.
He completed his training at the elite Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy where he studied diplomacy.
He began his diplomatic service for the Holy See in 1974 first in Madagascar, next at the secretariat of state (1977-89), and then at the nunciature in Washington, D.C. (1989-91) until Pope John Paul II recalled him in 1991 to serve as Assessor (assistant of the sostituto) for the General Affairs of the Secretariat of State.
He was appointed Titular Archbishop of Aemona and Apostolic Nuncio to Venezuela on July 22, 1997 and consecrated as archbishop on October 11 of that year.
He became Apostolic Nuncio to Mexico in March 2000 and was appointed to the Secretariat of State in September 2000.
At the Secretariat his duties include organizing the activities of the Roman Curia and appointments to curial offices, maintaining papal documents, keeping the papal seal and Fisherman's Ring, handling the concerns of embassies to the Holy See, coordinating activities of the Holy See's nuncios, and publishing official communications.
On the evening of 2 April 2005, it fell to Sandri to tell the world, "We all feel like orphans this evening" as he made public the news of Pope John Paul II's death.
On 9 June 2007 Pope Benedict XVI named Sandri as Pro-Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches replacing Ignace Cardinal Daoud who resigned for reasons of age.
It is Sandri's job as Prefect to maintain good relations with the 22 million Eastern Catholics who are in full communion with the Holy See.
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