[1] After a career in the diplomatic corps of the Holy See, he held a number of positions in the Roman Curia and from 2011 to 2016 was Archpriest of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

Pope John Paul named him apostolic pro-nuncio to Cameroon, to Gabon, and to Equatorial Guinea on 2 October 1989[4] and nuncio to Yugoslavia on 24 February 1996.

[7] On 22 January 2011, Pope Benedict named him Vice-Camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber, the official responsible controlling access to papal conclaves and overseeing their operations.

The day before the election of Pope Francis, La Stampa named Abril y Costello as a possible candidate for the papacy because he combined experience in both Latin American and the Roman Curia.

The newspaper also reported that before the conclave Abril served as a mediator in discussions between factions of cardinals representing Latin America and others looking for a pope from outside the Curia.