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Christophe Pierre
Christophe Louis Yves Georges Pierre (French pronunciation: [kʁistɔf pjɛʁ], born 30 January 1946, is a French Catholic prelate and diplomat who has served as Apostolic Nuncio to the United States since 2016. He previously served as apostolic nuncio to Mexico, Uganda and Haiti. He was made a cardinal in 2023.
Christophe Pierre was born in Rennes, France, on 30 January 1946 to a family with roots for many generations in Brittany. His father was a lawyer who moved his family when Christophe was three to Madagascar where he worked for about ten years. Pierre spent much of his childhood in Africa, mostly in Madagascar but also in Malawi and Zimbabwe. He attended primary school at Antsirabe in Madagascar and then pursued his secondary studies at the College of Saint-Malo and the Lycée Français in Marrakesh. He entered the Catholic seminary of Saint-Yves in Rennes in 1963, interrupting his studies to complete his required military service in France in 1965–66.
Pierre was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Rennes at the Cathedral of Saint-Malo in Saint-Malo, France, on 5 April 1970. He served as vicar of the parish of Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul in Colombes, a Paris suburb, in the Diocese of Nanterre from 1970 to 1973. Pierre obtained his Master of Theology degree at the Institut Catholique de Paris and his Doctor of Canon Law degree from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome (1973-1977).
In 1973, he entered the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, which trains papal diplomats. He entered the Vatican diplomatic service on 5 March 1977, serving first in Wellington, New Zealand. Pierre then held posts in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Brazil, and as the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in Geneva.
On 12 July 1995, Pope John Paul II named Pierre as apostolic nuncio to Haiti and titular archbishop of Gunela. He received his episcopal consecration on 24 September in the Cathedral of Saint-Malo from Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano. He chose as his episcopal motto Si Scires Donum Dei ("If you knew the gift of God") John 4:10. In Haiti, which had experienced years of church-state conflict, Pierre was described as non-political. He arranged for Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to be released from his vows as a Catholic priest.
On 10 May 1999, Pierre was transferred as apostolic nuncio to Kampala, Uganda. In 2000, he campaigned against the Ugandan government's promotion of condom use to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Vice President Speciosa Kazibwe, herself a doctor, promoted condom use during a national tour and complained that religious leaders were hampering the government's public health efforts. Pierre replied that condoms promoted "outright promiscuity" that would increase the incidence of HIV/AIDS. Years later, Pierre linked Uganda's success in fighting HIV/AIDS to the church's abstinence education strategy. During his time in Uganda, Pierre worked with Italian missionary Father John Scalabrini in supporting many disadvantaged Ugandans with school and health care.[citation needed]
Following the assassination of the papal nuncio to Burundi Archbishop Michael Courtney on 29 December 2004, he celebrated his funeral mass in the Regina Mundi Cathedral in Bujumbura the next day and oversaw the work of the nunciature there until the appointment of a new nuncio, Archbishop Paul Gallagher on 22 January 2005.
On 22 March 2007, Pope Benedict XVI named Pierre as apostolic nuncio to Mexico. He arrived just after the bishops of Latin America had produced their Aparecida statement and he later recalled being impressed by their achievement: "I read it, and I said, 'My God, this is new! The bishops finally have developed a pastoral plan which is the result of their synodal approach.' The fruit of Aparecida is a new pastoral approach. I saw it working in Mexico. It changes the church."
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Christophe Pierre
Christophe Louis Yves Georges Pierre (French pronunciation: [kʁistɔf pjɛʁ], born 30 January 1946, is a French Catholic prelate and diplomat who has served as Apostolic Nuncio to the United States since 2016. He previously served as apostolic nuncio to Mexico, Uganda and Haiti. He was made a cardinal in 2023.
Christophe Pierre was born in Rennes, France, on 30 January 1946 to a family with roots for many generations in Brittany. His father was a lawyer who moved his family when Christophe was three to Madagascar where he worked for about ten years. Pierre spent much of his childhood in Africa, mostly in Madagascar but also in Malawi and Zimbabwe. He attended primary school at Antsirabe in Madagascar and then pursued his secondary studies at the College of Saint-Malo and the Lycée Français in Marrakesh. He entered the Catholic seminary of Saint-Yves in Rennes in 1963, interrupting his studies to complete his required military service in France in 1965–66.
Pierre was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Rennes at the Cathedral of Saint-Malo in Saint-Malo, France, on 5 April 1970. He served as vicar of the parish of Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul in Colombes, a Paris suburb, in the Diocese of Nanterre from 1970 to 1973. Pierre obtained his Master of Theology degree at the Institut Catholique de Paris and his Doctor of Canon Law degree from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome (1973-1977).
In 1973, he entered the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, which trains papal diplomats. He entered the Vatican diplomatic service on 5 March 1977, serving first in Wellington, New Zealand. Pierre then held posts in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Brazil, and as the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in Geneva.
On 12 July 1995, Pope John Paul II named Pierre as apostolic nuncio to Haiti and titular archbishop of Gunela. He received his episcopal consecration on 24 September in the Cathedral of Saint-Malo from Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano. He chose as his episcopal motto Si Scires Donum Dei ("If you knew the gift of God") John 4:10. In Haiti, which had experienced years of church-state conflict, Pierre was described as non-political. He arranged for Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to be released from his vows as a Catholic priest.
On 10 May 1999, Pierre was transferred as apostolic nuncio to Kampala, Uganda. In 2000, he campaigned against the Ugandan government's promotion of condom use to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Vice President Speciosa Kazibwe, herself a doctor, promoted condom use during a national tour and complained that religious leaders were hampering the government's public health efforts. Pierre replied that condoms promoted "outright promiscuity" that would increase the incidence of HIV/AIDS. Years later, Pierre linked Uganda's success in fighting HIV/AIDS to the church's abstinence education strategy. During his time in Uganda, Pierre worked with Italian missionary Father John Scalabrini in supporting many disadvantaged Ugandans with school and health care.[citation needed]
Following the assassination of the papal nuncio to Burundi Archbishop Michael Courtney on 29 December 2004, he celebrated his funeral mass in the Regina Mundi Cathedral in Bujumbura the next day and oversaw the work of the nunciature there until the appointment of a new nuncio, Archbishop Paul Gallagher on 22 January 2005.
On 22 March 2007, Pope Benedict XVI named Pierre as apostolic nuncio to Mexico. He arrived just after the bishops of Latin America had produced their Aparecida statement and he later recalled being impressed by their achievement: "I read it, and I said, 'My God, this is new! The bishops finally have developed a pastoral plan which is the result of their synodal approach.' The fruit of Aparecida is a new pastoral approach. I saw it working in Mexico. It changes the church."