Christophe Pierre

Christophe Pierre was born in Rennes, France, on 30 January 1946 to a family with roots for many generations in Brittany.{{cite news | access-date = 3 June 2025 |work= Arlington Catholic Herald |url =https://www.catholicherald.com/article/national/pope-names-new-papal-nuncio-to-u-s/| title =Pope names new papal nuncio to U.S.|agency=Catholic News Service | date =12 April 2016}} His father was a lawyer who moved his family when Christophe was three to Madagascar where he worked for about ten years.{{cite interview | access-date = 4 June 2025 | first = Christophe | last = Pierre | url =https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2023/11/02/cardinal-christoph-pierre-interview-246416 | date = 2 November 2023 | work = America | title = Cardinal Pierre on why the U.S. bishops are struggling to connect with Pope Francis | interviewer = Gerard O'Connell }} 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.{{cite web | language = fr | access-date = 3 June 2025 | url =https://eglise.catholique.fr/guide-eglise-catholique-france/personne/s-em-le-cardinal-christophe-pierre/ | website= Église catholique en France | title = S. Ém. le cardinal Christophe Pierre|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20250513234834/https://eglise.catholique.fr/guide-eglise-catholique-france/personne/s-em-le-cardinal-christophe-pierre/ | archive-date=13 May 2025|url-status=live }} 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).{{cite web| access-date = 3 June 2025 | url = https://www.usccb.org/resources/his-eminence-cardinal-christophe-pierre-apostolic-nuncio-united-states-america | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20250215230055/https://www.usccb.org/resources/his-eminence-cardinal-christophe-pierre-apostolic-nuncio-united-states-america | archive-date=15 February 2025 | title = Apostolic Nuncio | website =United States Conference of Catholic Bishops }}

== Diplomatic service ==

In 1973, he entered the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, which trains papal diplomats.{{cite web|publisher=Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy|language =it|access-date =3 June 2025 | title = Pontificia Accademia Ecclesiastica, Ex-alunni 1950 – 1999 |url = https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_academies/acdeccles/documents/1950-1999.htm | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20230712002012/https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_academies/acdeccles/documents/1950-1999.htm|archive-date=12 July 2023|url-status=dead}}

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.{{cite book | page=730 | title = Acta Apostolica Sedis | access-date = 3 June 2025 |url = https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-87-1995-ocr.pdf| volume = LXXXVII | date = 1995}} He received his episcopal consecration on 24 September in the Cathedral of Saint-Malo from Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano.{{cite web | url = https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/documentation/cardinali_biografie/cardinali_bio_pierre_clyg.html | title =Pierre Card. Christophe Louis Yves Georges| publisher =Holy See Press Office | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231001030752/https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/documentation/cardinali_biografie/cardinali_bio_pierre_clyg.html |archive-date= 1 October 2023| access-date = 3 June 2025 }} He chose as his episcopal motto Si Scires Donum Dei ("If you knew the gift of God") {{Bibleverse|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.{{cite book|last1=Malone|first1=David|title=Decision-making in the UN Security Council: The Case of Haiti, 1990-1997|date=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=237n13|url=https://archive.org/details/decisionmakingin0000malo|url-access=registration|accessdate=12 March 2016|isbn=9780198294832}}

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.{{cite book|last1=Cornwell|first1=John|title=The Pontiff in Winter: Triumph and Conflict in the Reign of John Paul II|date=2007|publisher=Doubleday|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aQDRLfcW5gAC&pg=PT214|accessdate=12 March 2016|isbn=9780307424037}} 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.{{cite news | accessdate = 12 March 2016| date = 4 August 2000 | url= http://www.irinnews.org/report/3044/uganda-state-and-church-odds-over-condom-use | title= State and church at odds over condom use | publisher = IRIN }} Years later, Pierre linked Uganda's success in fighting HIV/AIDS to the church's abstinence education strategy.{{cite news | date = 12 March 2016 | accessdate = 27 February 2009 | title = Church vs. AIDS in Africa | publisher = National Catholic Register | first = Grace | last = Canfiru | url = http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/church_vs._aids_in_africa/#.VuQRfEU8LCQ | archive-date = 7 June 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110607074658/http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/church_vs._aids_in_africa/#.VuQRfEU8LCQ | url-status = dead }} During his time in Uganda, Pierre worked with Italian missionary Father John Scalabrini in supporting many disadvantaged Ugandans with school and health care.{{cn|date=June 2025}}

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.{{cite news | access-date = 3 June 2025 | url = https://www.lastampa.it/vatican-insider/en/2016/04/12/news/pope-appoints-french-born-christophe-pierre-as-the-new-nuncio-to-the-united-states-1.36594480/ | date = 12 April 2016 | first = Gerard | last=O'Connell | title = Pope appoints French-born Christophe Pierre, as the New Nuncio to the United States | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191206043952/https://www.lastampa.it/vatican-insider/en/2016/04/12/news/pope-appoints-french-born-christophe-pierre-as-the-new-nuncio-to-the-united-states-1.36594480/| archive-date =6 December 2019 | url-status=live }}

On 22 March 2007, Pope Benedict XVI named Pierre as apostolic nuncio to Mexico.{{cite news|title=Perfil: Christophe Pierre, nuncio apostolico en Mexico|url=http://archivo.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/413626.html|accessdate=12 March 2016|work=El Universal|date=21 March 2007 |language=es}} 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."

After Pope Francis sharply criticized the Mexican bishops during his visit to Mexico in February 2016,{{cite news|last1=San Martín|first1=Inés|title=Pope Francis' political edge comes out to play in Latin America|url=https://cruxnow.com/church/2016/03/pope-francis-political-edge-comes-out-to-play-in-latin-america/|accessdate=14 March 2016|work=CRUX|date=March 10, 2016 |quote=Francis demanded that the bishops not live like 'princes,' calling on them to avoid 'proud self-sufficiency,' insisting they embrace transparency and reject corruption by 'trivial materialism,' gossip or intrigue, as well 'unproductive groups that seek benefits or common interests.... }} an editorial in the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Mexico City objected to the Pope's criticism and asked: "Does the Pope have some reason for scolding Mexican bishops? ... [Do] the improvised words of the Holy Father respond to bad advice from someone close to him? Who gave the Pope bad advice?"{{cite news|title=Church magazine in Mexico City questions Pope's rebuke of bishops|url=https://catholicherald.co.uk/church-magazine-in-mexico-city-questions-popes-rebuke-of-bishops/|accessdate=14 March 2016|work=Catholic Herald|agency=Catholic News Service|date=9 March 2016}} Pierre was generally recognized as the target of the editorial and the source of the "bad advice".{{cite news|last1=Pentin|first1=Edward|title=Pope's Ambassador to Mexico to Be New Nuncio in Washington?|url=http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/popes-ambassador-to-mexico-to-be-new-nuncio-in-washington/#ixzz42eyntEqX|accessdate=12 March 2016|work=National Catholic Register|date=10 March 2016|archive-date=11 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311205718/http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/popes-ambassador-to-mexico-to-be-new-nuncio-in-washington#ixzz42eyntEqX|url-status=dead}}

Jorge E. Traslosheros wrote in Crux that, while in Mexico, Pierre managed "to weave with an artist's skills unity among Catholics, thereby overcoming the political divisions and culture wars that have caused so much damage". Traslosheros credited Pierre with bridging Mexico's secular establishment and the Catholic populace.{{cite news | url = https://cruxnow.com/church/2016/05/16/why-the-u-s-won-the-lottery-with-new-papal-envoy/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160518114842/http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2016/05/16/why-the-u-s-won-the-lottery-with-new-papal-envoy/ | url-status = dead | archive-date = May 18, 2016 | accessdate = 19 August 2017 | first = Jorge E. | last = Traslosheros | date = 16 May 2016 | title = Why the U.S. won the lottery with new papal envoy | work = CRUX }}

Pope Francis named Pierre apostolic nuncio to the United States on 12 April 2016, succeeding Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò.{{cite news|work=National Catholic Reporter| accessdate=12 April 2016| first=Joshua J. |last=McElwee| date= 12 April 2016|title=Francis replaces Vatican ambassador Vigano days after he's lauded by US bishops|url=http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/francis-replaces-vatican-ambassador-vigano-days-after-he-s-lauded-us-bishops}} He was the first Frenchman and the second Francophone to hold the position.{{cite news | access-date = 3 June 2025 |first=Edward|last=Pentin|url =https://www.ncregister.com/blog/popes-ambassador-to-mexico-to-be-new-nuncio-in-washington?amp | work = National Catholic Register | title =Pope's Ambassador to Mexico to Be New Nuncio in Washington? | date = 10 March 2016}} He later described his surprise that the American bishops were unaware of the Latin American bishops' synodal activity, their work at Aparecida, or that Pope Francis' Evangelii Gaudium was based on it.

Advocating for immigrants, he joined demonstrations and meetings with Texas-Mexico border bishops in October 2016 in Nogales, Arizona,{{cite news | agency = Catholic News Service | url = http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2016/nuncio-at-border-mass-prays-for-an-end-to-barriers-that-separate-people.cfm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170111022623/http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2016/nuncio-at-border-mass-prays-for-an-end-to-barriers-that-separate-people.cfm | url-status = dead | archive-date = January 11, 2017 | first = Nancy | last = Wiechec | title = Nuncio at border Mass prays for an end to barriers that separate people | date= 24 October 2016 | accessdate = 19 August 2017}} and in February 2016 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.{{cite news | accessdate = 19 August 2017 | agency= Catholic News Service | url = http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2017/border-bishops-call-for-dignity-regardless-of-migration-condition.cfm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170820040007/http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2017/border-bishops-call-for-dignity-regardless-of-migration-condition.cfm | url-status = dead | archive-date = August 20, 2017 | date= 16 February 2017 | title = Border bishops call for dignity regardless of 'migration condition' |first =Rhina | last = Guidos}} Pierre celebrated Mass at the National Scout Jamboree in July 2017 and discussed his five years in Scouting in a sermon that tied Scouting's ideals to Christian service.{{cite news | accessdate = 19 August 2017 | url = https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2017/07/28/day-trumps-speech-popes-representative-tells-scouts-world-needs-values/ | work = CRUX | date = 28 July 2017 | title = Day before Trump's speech, pope's representative tells Scouts world needs their values | agency = Catholic News Service | archive-date = 20 August 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170820034844/https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2017/07/28/day-trumps-speech-popes-representative-tells-scouts-world-needs-values/ | url-status = dead }} The National Catholic Reporter described him as "a staunch defender of Francis in the U.S.".{{Cite web |last=White |first=Christopher |date=9 July 2023 |title=Pope Francis names 21 new cardinals, including Vatican's ambassador to US |url=https://www.ncronline.org/vatican/vatican-news/pope-francis-names-21-new-cardinals-including-vaticans-ambassador-us |access-date= |website=National Catholic Reporter |language=en}}

On 9 July 2023, Pope Francis announced he plans to make him a cardinal at a consistory scheduled for 30 September.{{cite press release | access-date = 9 July 2023| publisher = Holy See Press Office | language = it | title = Le parole del Papa alla recita dell'Angelus, 09.07.2023 | url = https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2023/07/09/0502/01116.html }}{{Cite web |date=9 July 2023 |title=Pope names 21 new cardinals, including an American and his envoy to the U.S. |url=https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2023/07/pope-names-21-new-cardinals-including-an-american-and-his-envoy-to-the-u-s/ |access-date=10 July 2023|website=Crux }} At that consistory he was made Cardinal-Deacon of San Benedetto fuori Porta San Paolo.{{cite press release | access-date = 1 October 2023 | date = 30 September 2023 | url = https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2023/09/30/230930b.html | title = Assignation of Titles and Deaconries to the new Cardinals, 30.09.2023 | publisher = Holy See Press Office}} Taking possession of his titular church in April 2024, he said that as nuncio he never felt rootless but had learned "to find roots everywhere".{{cite news | access-date = 6 May 2025 |first = Carol |last=Glatz| work= OSV News| url =https://www.osvnews.com/french-born-cardinal-has-decades-of-diplomatic-experience-in-americas-africa/ | date = | title = French-Born Cardinal has Decades of Diplomatic Experience in Americas, Africa}} He also said that rather than proclaiming absolutes the Church needs to understand that "to be pro-life is also to help the people concretely, not just to defend an idea, not to embrace a political party which is pro-life, but also to be on the ground, an actor to defend the values, because we are not just in favor of a few values. We are disciples of Jesus and the disciples are a witness and are committed to helping."{(cite news | title = Cardinal-elect Pierre: Polarization arises when we put ideas before people | access-date = | url =https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2023-09/cardinal-elect-christophe-pierre-usa-nuncio-interview.html | work = Vatican News | date = 7 September 2023 }} On 4 October 2023, he was named a member of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See.{{cite press release | access-date = 3 June 2025 | publisher = Holy See Press Office | date = 4 October 2023|url = https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2023/10/04/231004b.html | title =Resignations and Appointments, 04.10.2023}}

In 2024, he was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Notre Dame.{{Cite web |date=8 April 2024 |title=Distinguished leaders to receive Notre Dame honorary degrees, Laetare Medal |url=https://news.nd.edu/news/distinguished-leaders-to-receive-notre-dame-honorary-degrees-laetare-medal/ |access-date=3 May 2025}}

He participated as a cardinal elector in the 2025 papal conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV.{{cite web| url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/scardc3.html| title=Cardinal Electors|date=6 May 2025|publisher=Catholic-Hierarchy.org|language=en|access-date=6 May 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250506193115/https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/scardc3.html|archive-date=6 May 2025|url-status=live}}

• Cardinals created by Francis
• List of heads of the diplomatic missions of the Holy See

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• [https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/documentation/cardinali_biografie/cardinali_bio_pierre_clyg.html Pierre Card. Christophe Louis Yves Georges]. Holy See Press Office. [https://web.archive.org/web/20231001030752/https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/documentation/cardinali_biografie/cardinali_bio_pierre_clyg.html Archived] from the original on 1 October 2023
• {{cite interview|url=https://rennes.catholique.fr/actualite/406395-interview-de-mgr-christophe-pierre/ |website= Diocese of Rennes | title=Interview de Mgr Christophe Pierre |date= 27 September 2023| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20231002185925/https://rennes.catholique.fr/actualite/406395-interview-de-mgr-christophe-pierre/ | archive-date=2 October 2023}}
• [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bpierre.html Catholic Hierarchy]

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{{s-dip}}

{{s-bef | before = Lorenzo Baldisseri}}

{{s-ttl | title = Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti | years = 12 July 1995 – 10 May 1999}}

{{s-aft | after = Luigi Bonazzi}}

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{{s-bef | before = Luis Robles Díaz}}

{{s-ttl | title = Apostolic Nuncio to Uganda| years = 10 May 1999 – 22 March 2007}}

{{s-aft | after = Paul Tschang In-Nam}}

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{{s-bef | before = Giuseppe Bertello}}

{{s-ttl | title = Apostolic Nuncio to Mexico| years = 22 March 2007 – 12 April 2016}}

{{s-aft| after=Franco Coppola}}

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{{s-bef | before = Carlo Maria Vigano}}

{{s-ttl | title = Apostolic Nuncio to the United States | years = 12 April 2016 – present}}

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{{s-bef | before = Achille Silvestrini}}

{{s-ttl | title = Cardinal Deacon of San Benedetto fuori Porta San Paolo | years = 30 September 2023 – present}}

{{s-end}}

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{{College of Cardinals}}

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Category:Living people

Category:1946 births

Category:Apostolic nuncios to Haiti

Category:Apostolic nuncios to Mexico

Category:Apostolic nuncios to Uganda

Category:Apostolic nuncios to the United States

Category:20th-century Roman Catholic titular archbishops

Category:21st-century Roman Catholic titular archbishops

Category:French Roman Catholic titular archbishops

Category:Institut Catholique de Paris alumni

Category:Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy alumni

Category:Pontifical Lateran University alumni

Category:Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II

Category:Cardinals created by Pope Francis

Category:21st-century French cardinals