Leonardo Sandri

Early life and career

Sandri was born in Buenos Aires to Antonio Enrico Sandri and Nella Righi, who had emigrated to Argentina from Ala, a village in Trentino in Italy. He studied humanities, philosophy and theology at the Metropolitan Seminary of Buenos Aires, and earned a Licentiate in Theology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina. On 2 December 1967, he was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Juan Carlos Aramburu.

He then served as parochial vicar of Nuestra Señora del Carmen in Villa Urquiza and secretary to Archbishop Aramburu until 1970, when he was sent to further his studies in Rome. He there attended the Pontifical Gregorian University, from where he obtained a doctorate in canon law, and the Pontifical Latin American College. In 1971, he entered the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, which trains papal diplomats.

Diplomat

In 1974, Sandri became an official of the Apostolic Nunciature in Madagascar and Mauritius, which also serves as the Apostolic Delegation in the islands of Comoros and Réunion in the Indian Ocean.

He then served in the Vatican Secretariat of State, as secretary of the Substitute for General Affairs, from 1977 to 1989; and in the Apostolic Nunciature in the United States as permanent observer of the Holy See before the Organization of American States, from 1989 to 1991.

He became regent of the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household on 22 August 1991 and assessor of the Section for General Affairs in the Secretariat of State on 2 April 1992.

On 22 July 1997, Sandri was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Venezuela and Titular Archbishop of Aemona by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on the following 11 October from Cardinal Angelo Sodano, with Cardinal Aramburu and Archbishop Giovanni Battista Re serving as co-consecrators, at St. Peter's Basilica. He selected as his episcopal motto: "Ille Fidelis", meaning, "He (Christ) remains faithful" (2 Timothy 2:13). After two years in Venezuela, he briefly served as Apostolic Nuncio to Mexico from 1 March to 16 September 2000, when he was named Substitute for General Affairs.

As Substitute, Sandri held the third most important position within the Vatican (after the Cardinal Secretary of State and the Pope himself), serving essentially as the chief of staff of the Secretariat of State.

As John Paul II's health declined, he would read aloud the texts that the Pope could not deliver himself. On the evening of 2 April 2005 he announced the Pope's death from Saint Peter's Square, saying "We all feel like orphans this evening."

Congregation for the Oriental Churches

On 9 June 2007, Sandri was appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches by Pope Benedict XVI. Succeeding Ignatius I Daoud, he heads the curial congregation that handles matters regarding the Eastern Catholic Churches and is the ex officio Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical Oriental Institute.

Sandri, who visited the Holy Land in February 2008, has lamented the emigration of Christians from that region, saying, "This lack of peace makes Christians emigrate and leave their land behind. So we're left with a purely geological, physical presence of Jesus, and not with the presence of those that grew with him and lived his faith, and that continue to follow him today like disciples of his very homeland." Some have attributed the delay in the canonization process for John Paul II to Sandri's apparent reluctance to testify in the effort.

In November 2014 the Vatican lifted its ban on the ordination of married men to the priesthood in Eastern Catholic churches outside their traditional territories, including in the United States, Canada and Australia. Cardinal Sandri signed the decree 14 June 2014.

Cardinal

Benedict XVI created him Cardinal-Deacon of San Carlo ai Catinari in the consistory of 24 November 2007. He delivered the message of thanksgiving to the Pope on behalf of the new cardinals on that occasion.

He was mentioned in the press as papabile, a possible candidate for election to the papacy at the time of the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI in 2013.

Sandri is also a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, Pontifical Commission for Latin America and Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State. On 2 March 2010 he was appointed a member of the Congregation for Bishops. On 31 May 2011 he was appointed a member of the Apostolic Signatura. On 12 June 2012 Cardinal Sandri was appointed a member of the Congregation for Catholic Education.

Cardinal Sandri, as Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, was named by Pope Benedict XVI be one of two co-presidents of the Special Synod of Bishops for the Middle East held at the Vatican in October 2010.

He is eligible to participate in a papal conclave until he reaches the age of 80 on 18 November 2023. As the senior Cardinal Deacon in a conclave, Sandri would announce the election of the new pope. He speaks English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

In April 2005 Archbishop Sandri was awarded Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.

Jewish-Christian relations

Cardinal Sandri was present at Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the Yad Vashem memorial and commented that his speech was a source of joy for both Christians and Jews.

Iraqi Christians

Sandri has said that although the regime of Saddam Hussein was dictatorial, it is undeniable that Iraqi clergy and laity felt more secure under his regime and that their liturgical life went on undisturbed.

Religious illiteracy

Cardinal Sandri has praised the work of L'Osservatore Romano and the Vatican Publishing House for their work in combatting religious, biblical and ecclesial illiteracy.