Antonio Lucibello

Antonio Lucibello (born 25 February 1942) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1971 to 2016. He has held the rank of archbishop and apostolic nuncio since 1995.

Biography Antonio Lucibello was born on 25 February 1942 in Spezzano Albanese, Calabria, Italy. He was ordained a priest on 23 July 1967. He studied at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy.

Diplomatic career He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1971. He filled positions in the Apostolic Nunciatures in Panama, Ethiopia, Haiti, Argentina, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zaire, Yugoslavia, Greece and Ireland. On 8 September 1995, Pope John Paul II appointed him titular archbishop of Thurio and Apostolic Nuncio to Gambia, Guinea and Liberia, as well as Apostolic Delegate to Sierra Leone.

He received his episcopal consecration from Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano on 4 November 1995.

On 27 July 1999, John Paul named him Apostolic Nuncio to Paraguay.

Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Turkey and Turkmenistan on 27 August 2005. During his service in these posts, a Catholic priest was murdered in Ankara in February 2006, Pope Benedict visited Turkey in December 2006, Bishop Luigi Padovese of the Apostolic Vicariate of Anatolia was murdered in 2010, and in 2015 Turkey recalled its ambassador to the Holy See after Pope Francis used the word "genocide" to describe the deaths of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.

With the appointment of his successor Paul Fitzpatrick Russell on 19 March 2016, Lucibello ended his active service as nuncio.