Justo Mullor García

Archbishop's coat of arms

Justo Mullor García (born May 8, 1932 in Los Villares , Jaén Province , Spain , † December 30, 2016 in Rome ) was a Spanish clergyman, Roman Catholic Archbishop and President of the Pontifical Diplomatic Academy .

Life

After the early death of his father, Justo Mullor García moved with his mother to Almería , where, after graduating from high school, he entered the local seminary of the diocese . After his ordination on December 8, 1954 Antonio Cardinal Samore , he first few years in the community pastoral worked before him his bishop in 1957 by Rome sent, where he was a student at the St. Pontifical Spanish College Joseph to further study the Pontifical Attended Gregorian University . At the same time he took up his diplomatic training at the Pontifical Diplomatic Academy .

During the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) and in the years thereafter in the Papal State Secretariat , he was Nunciature Secretary in Brussels from 1967 to 1970 , then from 1970 to 1975 in Lisbon . In 1975 he was appointed Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg .

Pope John Paul II appointed Justo Mullor García on March 21, 1979 titular Archbishop of Emerita Augusta . One day later, on March 22, 1979, he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to the Ivory Coast . At the same time he was also active as Pro-Nuncio in Upper Volta , appointed on May 2, 1979, and Pro-Nuncio in Niger , appointed on August 25, 1979. He was ordained bishop by Pope John Paul II on May 27, 1979 in Rome; Co-consecrators were the then secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples , Curia Archbishop Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy , and the then official in the Vatican State Secretariat , Curia Archbishop Eduardo Martínez Somalo .

After spending nearly six years in Africa, the Pope appointed him Permanent Representative of the Holy See to the United Nations in Geneva on May 3, 1985 . He did his service there not only as a representative of the Pope, but, as he explained several times, above all as an advocate for poor nations who could not afford a permanent representative in Geneva. His commitment to the Baltic States in 1991 is also unforgettable , when he publicly called for the independence of Estonia , Latvia and Lithuania , which have been annexed to the Soviet Union since 1940, in a speech to the General Assembly after Vilnius' Bloody Sunday (January 13, 1991) were. The Holy See, which at that time was unable to occupy the bishopric there, had always spoken of a sedisvacantia rerum politicarum causa , ie a “sedis vacancy for political reasons”. This also makes it clear that the Catholic Church has never recognized the annexation of the Baltic States by the Soviet Union.

On November 30, 1991 Justo Mullor García was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, being the first ambassador to present his credentials to the President of the now independent Republic of Lithuania. In addition to his duties as nuncio, he also became apostolic administrator for Estonia in Tallinn / Reval on April 15, 1992 . Since the arrest (June 27, 1941) and death (February 22, 1942) of Archbishop Eduard Profittlich SJ, jurisdiction over the Apostolic Administration was restored with Justo Mullor García . With great commitment he accompanied the reconstruction of the Catholic Church in the Baltic States, which had suffered for more than forty years under Soviet rule. One of the highlights of his work in the Baltic States was Pope John Paul II's visit to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia from September 4 to 10, 1993.

On April 2, 1997, Justo Mullor García, transferred to the titular diocese of Volsinium since June 28, 1994 , was appointed Apostolic Nuncio in Mexico . This appointment came at a politically and diplomatically difficult time at the height of the conflict in Chiapas , one of the poorest states in Mexico, where the Zapatistas who had come together in the EZLN (Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional) were responsible for the rights and development of the indigenous people and against the consequences of globalization . In addition to his commitment to the poor and weak in Mexico, Justo Mullor García endeavored in the three years of his activity above all to normalize relations between Mexico and the Holy See , without, however, the difficult situation of the people in this country Losing eye.

After almost three years in Mexico, on February 11, 2000, Justo Mullor García was appointed President of the Pontifical Diplomatic Academy . He held this office until his retirement on October 13, 2007.

Web links

• Entry for Justo Mullor García on catholic-hierarchy.org
• Website of the Pontifical Diplomatic Academy

Individual evidence

1. ^ Fallce en Roma Mons. Justo Muller, ex Nuncio de México . Catholic News Agency / Aciprensa, December 30, 2016, accessed December 31, 2016 (Spanish).

predecessor	Office	successor
Georg Zur	President of the Pontifical Diplomatic Academy 2000–2007	Beniamino Stella
Eduard Profittlich	Apostolic Administrator of Estonia 1992–1997	Erwin Josef Ender

predecessor	Office	successor
Bruno Wüstenberg	Apostolic Nuncio to Ivory Coast 1979–1985	Antonio Mattiazzo
Luigi Dossena	Apostolic Pro-Nuncio in Upper Volta 1979–1985	Antonio Mattiazzo
Luigi Dossena	Apostolic Pro-Nuncio in Niger 1979–1985	Antonio Mattiazzo
Edoardo Rovida	Permanent observer of the Holy See at the UN and WHO in Geneva 1985–1991	Paul Fouad Naïm Tabet
Antonino Arata	Apostolic Nuncio in Estonia 1991–1997	Erwin Josef Ender
Antonino Arata	Apostolic Nuncio in Latvia 1991–1997	Erwin Josef Ender
Luigi Centoz	Apostolic Nuncio in Lithuania 1991–1997	Erwin Josef Ender
Girolamo Prigione	Apostolic Nuncio in Mexico 1997–2000	Leonardo Sandri