[citation needed] He was working at the Pontifical Council Cor Unum when, on 20 June 1975, Pope Paul VI named him a titular archbishop and Apostolic Nuncio to Costa Rica.
[3] On 15 October 1980, Pope John Paul II appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to El Salvador as well.
[4] On 8 April 1984, Pope John Paul moved him to the Roman Curia, naming him Secretary of the Congregation of the Sacraments.
[5] On 22 August 1991, Pope John Paul returned him to the diplomatic corps, appointing him Apostolic Nuncio to Germany.
[8] His tenure in Spain was marked by disputes with the government about religious education and church finances;[9] he made his hostility to Catalan nationalism clear as well.