He joined the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1977 and served as apostolic nuncio in several countries from the time he became an archbishop in 1999 until he retired in 2016.
From 1969 to 1974 he was parochial vicar at the Cathedral of Tempio Pausania, taught school, was a bishop’s secretary and studied pedagogy at the University of Sassari.
He worked in the Apostolic Nunciatures in Pakistan, Colombia, Ecuador, Sudan, South Africa, Japan, Austria, Lithuania (Latvia/Estonia), Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia/Montenegro) and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He received a standing ovation when he said:[2] You, more than others, know your people, you live among them, you share their anxieties and their sorrows as a result of their everyday conditions.
[7] On 10 March 2012 he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Swaziland,[8] adding Lesotho a week later.