[3] On 30 November 1977, Sodano, who spoke English, German, Spanish, French, and Italian, was appointed titular archbishop of Nova Caesaris and apostolic nuncio to Chile, one of the countries where he had served as nunciature secretary.

He arrived at a difficult moment, with Chile on the brink of war with Argentina over the Beagle Channel and Augusto Pinochet in power.

[5] In 1980, together with Cardinal Raúl Silva Henríquez, he tried without success to get Pinochet to allow the return of certain political exiles, and in 1984 he obtained, at the cost of a dispute between the Holy See and the military government of Chile, safe conduct for four members of the Revolutionary Left Movement, who had sought diplomatic asylum in the nunciature, to leave for Ecuador.

[5] In 1987, when Pope John Paul II visited Chile, Sodano arranged for him to meet in the nunciature the leaders of the opposition to the Pinochet government.

Sodano retained his relationship to the church of Santa Maria Nuova no longer as titular but in commendam, that is, in trust or his custody.

[3] On 27 December 1998, Sodano wrote, at the request of the democratic government of Chile, an official letter to the British Prime Minister Tony Blair stating that "the Chilean Government considers it an offense to its territorial sovereignty as a nation the fact of being deprived of the power to judge its citizens" through the detention of Pinochet in Britain.

[5] When in 2002 he turned 75, John Paul invited him to stay on as Secretary of State, though this is the customary retirement age for heads of major Vatican departments.

[23] In his address as Dean of the College of Cardinals to Pope Benedict XVI at Easter 2010, Sodano told him: "The people of God are with you and do not allow themselves to be impressed by the petty gossip of the moment, by the trials that sometimes assail the community of believers."

Victims of clerical sex abuse interpreted the "petty gossip" remark as a highly inappropriate reference to their complaints.

[24][25] On 8 May 2010, the Austrian Catholic news agency Kathpress published remarks made by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, in what was supposed to be a private conversation with newspaper editors.

[1] A third of the sex abuse cases that Sodano was accused of covering up involved Legion of Christ founder and notorious predator priest Marcial Maciel.

[32][33][34] Pope Francis paid tribute to Sodano, "I recall his diligent work alongside so many of my predecessors, who entrusted him with important responsibilities in Vatican diplomacy, up to the delicate office of Secretary of State.