The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI has nominated the Maltese prelate, Monsignor Antoine Camilleri, as Under-Secretary for the Holy See’s Relations with States.
Monsignor Antoine Camilleri was born in Sliema on 20th August 1965. He hails from Stella Maris Parish. He attended St. Joseph’s School, Sliema, and St. Aloysius’ College, Birkirkara. He graduated Doctor of Laws from the University of Malta in 1988 and was ordained priest at St John’s Co-Cathedral on 5th July 1991. He served as vice parish priest at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Gzira (1991-92). In 1992 he was sent to read canon law at the Pontifical Lateran University. Having obtained a doctorate, in 1996 he returned to Malta and was appointed Defender of the Bond at the Archdiocesan Ecclesiastical Tribunal (1996-97). In January 1999 Monsignor Camilleri joined the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He served in various Apostolic Nunciatures – Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands (1999-2002), Uganda (2002-05) and Cuba (2005-06) – before being assigned to the Secretariat of State in the Vatican as an Official in the Section for Relations with States and Private Secretary to Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States (2007-13). On 22nd February 2013 Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Under-Secretary for the Holy See’s Relations with States.
The Under-Secretary for Relations with States assists, and deputizes for, the Secretary for Relations with States in the latter’s responsibility as the Holy See’s Foreign Minister, attending to all matters involving the relations of the Holy See with the international community and civil governments, as well as the promotion of the good of the Church and of society in the various parts of the world through diplomatic contacts and, where necessary, bilateral or multilateral agreements.