His Eminence Mario Zenari |
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Cardinal, Apostolic Nuncio to Syria | |
Church | Roman Catholic Church |
Appointed | 30 December 2008 |
Predecessor | Giovanni Battista Morandini |
Other posts | Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria delle Grazie alle Fornaci fuori Porta Cavalleggeri |
Orders | |
Ordination | 5 July 1970 by Giuseppe Carraro |
Consecration | 25 September 1999 by Angelo Sodano |
Created Cardinal | 19 November 2016 by Pope Francis |
Rank | Cardinal Deacon |
Personal details | |
Birth name | Mario Zenari |
Born |
Villafranca di Verona, Verona, Italy |
5 January 1946
Previous post |
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Motto | "Levate Oculos Vestros" (Lift up your eyes) |
Coat of arms | ![]() |
Ordination history of Mario Zenari | |
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Priestly ordination
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Date of ordination | 5 July 1970 |
Episcopal consecration
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Principal consecrator | Angelo Sodano |
Co-consecrators |
Flavio Roberto Carraro, OFM Cap. Marcello Zago, OMI |
Date of consecration | 25 September 1999 |
Cardinalate
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Elevated by | Pope Francis |
Date of elevation | 19 November 2016 |
Styles of Mario Zenari |
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Reference style | His Eminence |
Spoken style | Your Eminence |
Informal style | Cardinal |
Mario Zenari (born 5 January 1946) is an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal and the current Apostolic Nuncio to Syria. Zenari was ordained a priest in 1970 and has served his entire ecclesiastical career in various diplomatic positions. Since 1999 he has served as the nuncio to three African nations and in 2004 was appointed nuncio to Sri Lanka.
Zenari has been in Syria during the Syrian Civil War. On 9 October 2016, Pope Francis announced that he would create Zenari a cardinal on 19 November 2016 to show his support and devotion for "martyred" Syria.
Mario Zenari was born in 1946 in Verona. He received his ordination to the priesthood on 5 July 1970 in Verona from the Venerable Giuseppe Carraro while later being appointed to several diplomatic positions to non-governmental organizations by Pope John Paul II in 1994. He was later named as the Titular Archbishop of Iulium Carnicum on 12 July 1999, while simultaneously being named as the apostolic nuncio to two African nations (Niger and Cote d'Ivoire); he was later named a week later on 24 July as the nuncio to Burkina Faso.
He received his episcopal consecration on 25 September 1999 from Cardinal Angelo Sodano and served as the nuncio to those three nations until 10 May 2004 when he was removed from those positions in favor of being named as the nuncio to Sri Lanka. Zenari remained there until 30 December 2008 when Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as the nuncio to Syria where he was stationed during the onslaught of the Syrian Civil War that broke out in 2011.