Catholics in the Diocese of Beaumont will join Bishop Curtis Guillory, SVD, in praying for the repose of the soul of Italian Archbishop Pietro Sambi.
Archbishop Sambi, the Vatican nuncio to the United States, died late July 27 at Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore after a hospitalization that began with lung surgery. He was 73.
“Archbishop Sambi, will be greatly missed by the Church in this country. During the past five and a half years he has often acknowledged the great generosity of American Catholics to the Church here and abroad,” Bishop Guillory said.
A veteran Vatican diplomat, Archbishop Sambi was appointed as U.S. nuncio, or ambassador, in December 2005 by Pope Benedict XVI.
“He was committed to the people. He served the Holy Father well. He loved this country and we will miss him and his leadership as ambassador from the Vatican,” Bishop Guillory said.
Prior to the U.S. appointment, he had been nuncio to Israel and Cyprus; he was the second Vatican ambassador to Israel, after the Vatican and Israel established diplomatic relations in 1994.
“I am asking our priests and our faithful to pray for his family and the repose of his soul during Mass this weekend,” Bishop Guillory said.
