The son of a master tailor, Giorgio Zur studied in Rome at the Gregorian University, where he obtained a licentiate in philosophy and theology and a doctorate in canon law.

After pastoral work as a chaplain in the Archdiocese of Bamberg, he entered the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in 1960.

[1] He then entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See and fulfilled assignments in India, Mexico, Burundi, and Uganda.

Pope John Paul II appointed him on 5 February 1979 as the Titular Archbishop of Sesta and Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Malawi and Zambia.

[7] In the Russian Federation, Zur worked to improve relations with Patriarch Alexei II of Moscow, but his repeated protests against the Russian Government's expulsion of a Catholic bishop and several priests soon made his position untenable.