Orlando Antonini


Orlando Antonini is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1980 to 2015, as an archbishop and apostolic nuncio from 1999 to 2015.

Biography

Orlando Antonini was born on 15 October 1944 in Villa Sant'Angelo, Province of L'Aquila, Italy. He was ordained a priest on 29 June 1968. He earned a doctorate in canon law. On 25 March 1980, he entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See. His early assignments took him to Bangladesh, Madagascar, Syria, Chile, the Netherlands, and France. He also worked in Rome at the Secretariat of State.
On 24 July 1999 Pope John Paul II appointed him Titular Archbishop of Formia and Apostolic Nuncio to both Zambia and Malawi. He received his episcopal consecration from Cardinal Angelo Sodano on 11 September 1999.
Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Apostolic Nuncio on 16 November 2005 to Paraguay, and on 8 August 2009 to the Apostolic Nuncio in Serbia.
He retired on 30 September 2015.