12 December 1985 Pope John Paul II names him titular archbishop of Doclea and apostolic nuncio to Malta.
On 6 February 1995 he was transferred to the Apostolic Nunciature to Turkey,[1] and on 3 April 1997 he was also appointed Nuncio to Turkmenistan.
[3] On 14 November 2002 he was appointed secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue,[4] a post he held until he was replaced on 30 June 2012 by Miguel Ayuso Guixot.
[5] On 21 December 2002, John Paul made him a member of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants.
[9] On 20 December 2014, he was replaced as Vice Camerlengo by Archbishop Giampiero Gloder[10] and retired a month before his 78th birthday.