Washington D.C., Jul 27, 2011 / 21:04 pm
Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Holy Father’s diplomatic representative to the U.S., died in the evening on Wednesday, July 27. The nuncio was at a Baltimore hospital, where he was on a ventilator because of complications from a lung surgery performed two weeks ago.
On Monday, the nunciature, along with Archbishop Sambi's family, who traveled to Baltimore from Italy after Archbishop Sambi’s condition worsened, asked “Bishops, priests, religious, and lay faithful” to offer “sacrifices and prayers” for his recovery.
Archbishop Sambi was appointed by Pope Benedict in 2005 as the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States. He began his duties in Washington, D.C. in February of 2006.
The archbishop was born in the northern Italian town of Sogliano sul Rubicone in 1938, and was ordained a priest on March 14, 1964, for the Diocese of Montefeltro. Archbishop Sambi was fluent in English, Spanish, and French, and held doctorate degrees in Theology and Canon Law.