Swiss Cardinal Paul Emil Tscherrig, who served as the apostolic nuncio to Italy, the Republic of San Marino, and the Dominican Republic, among many other countries, died May 12. He was 79.
Pope Leo XIV expressed condolences in a telegram to Cardinal Tscherrig’s relatives and the faithful in the Diocese of Sion, Switzerland, where he was ordained a priest in 1974.
“I reflect with a grateful heart on his faithful service as pontifical representative in various countries, and then as a member of several dicasteries of the Holy See,” Pope Leo said in the message. “In all the offices entrusted to him, the late cardinal acted generously, bearing witness to the love of the Church and the successor of Peter.”
The Pontiff offered spiritual support for those grieving the loss of the cardinal and for the repose of his soul.
“I raise fervent prayers for the repose of the soul of this minister of the Gospel, that the Lord may welcome him in the light that never goes out,” the Holy Father concluded, “and, entrusting him to the maternal intercession of the Virgin Mary, I impart the apostolic blessing to those who mourn his sudden passing.”
At the time of his death, Cardinal Tscherrig was living in Rome, where he had resided since his retirement in 2024, according to SwissInfo.
Shortly after earning a doctorate in canon law, Cardinal Tscherrig was appointed as secretary of the Apostolic Nunciature in 1978 by Pope John Paul II, to serve in Uganda, South Korea, Mongolia, and Bangladesh, according to Vatican News. Nearly 20 years later, he was appointed to his first role as apostolic nuncio, chosen to serve as the representative to Burundi in East Africa in 1996.
The outlet reports that in 2000, he was appointed nuncio to Trinidad and Tobago, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Grenada, Guyana, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and the Bahamas; the following year he assumed the role as nuncio in Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Suriname, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. In 2004, he became nuncio to South Korea and Mongolia. Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as nuncio to Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Norway in 2008.
In 2012, he was appointed to serve as nuncio to Argentina. Rome-based Catholic journalist Diane Montagna reports that in this role “he came to know [Argentina’s] then-archbishop, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio,” who later became Pope Francis.
He became the first non-Italian to hold the role of nuncio to Italy and San Marino in 2017, when Pope Francis appointed him. Pope Francis appointed him to the College of Cardinals in 2023.
Montagna reports that as a result of his death, the number of cardinals eligible to participate in a conclave is now 118.