Quick Facts
Biography
Luigi Ventura (9 December 1944–) is the current Apostolic Nuncio to France since his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI on 22 September 2009.
Ventura was born in 1944 in Borgosatollo, Italy. He was ordained a priest on 14 June 1969 at the age of 25 for the diocese of Brescia. He was called to work for the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1978. He attended the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. He is a doctor of letters and holds a licentiate in canon law. He served in Brazil, Bolivia and the United Kingdom until 1984.
He then served with the Section for Relations with States at the Vatican Secretariat of State until 1995. Pope John Paul II appointed him Titular Archbishop of Equilium on 25 March 1995 and appointed hims as Apostolic Nuncio to the Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Niger. He was consecrated on 29 April 1995 by Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano. He was appointed as Apostolic Nuncio to Chile in 1999, serving there until 2001, when the Pope named him Apostolic Nuncio to Canada.
Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as Nuncio to France on 22 September 2009, replacing Fortunato Baldelli who had been appointed as Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary.
He speaks Italian, French, Spanish and English.