Pope Leo remembers Cardinal Tscherrig and his great love for the Church
Pope Leo XIV sent deep condolences for the death of Cardinal Paul Emil Tscherrig, who died at 79. The Pope highlighted Tscherrig’s faithful service as a papal representative in several countries and as a member of multiple dicasteries of the Holy See. He recalled the cardinal’s generosity and love for the Church and the Successor of Peter, calling him a minister of the Gospel. The Pope offered an apostolic blessing to those affected and invoked the intercession of the Virgin Mary. Tscherrig had served as Apostolic Nuncio to Italy and San Marino and was incardinated in the diocese of Sion.
4 months ago
Pope Leo XIV issued a heartfelt telegram of condolence on 12 May 2026 after the death of Swiss Cardinal Paul Emil Tscherrig, praising his long‑standing service to the Holy See and describing him as a “minister of the Gospel” who loved the Church 1 2.
The pope’s telegram expressed “deep condolences” to the cardinal’s family and to the diocesan community of Sion.
He highlighted Tscherrig’s “faithful service as a papal representative in various countries and later as a member of several dicasteries of the Holy See.” 1 2
Leo invoked the Virgin Mary’s intercession and entrusted the cardinal’s soul to “the light that knows no sunset,” sending an apostolic blessing to all affected 1 2.
Born in Unterems, Switzerland, on 3 February 1947, Tscherrig was ordained a priest on 11 April 1974 1 2.
He earned a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University before entering the Holy See’s diplomatic service in 1978 1 2.
Pope Francis created him a cardinal in the consistory of 30 September 2023, assigning him the deaconry of San Giuseppe in Via Trionfale 1 2.
He participated in the 2025 conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV 2.
At his death, he was a member of the cardinalatial commission of the Institute for the Works of Religion (the Vatican bank) 2.
Cardinal Tscherrig is remembered for his generous action, his witness to love for the Church and the Successor of Peter, and his extensive diplomatic contributions across five continents 1 2.*
How does a Vatican diplomat exemplify the Church’s missionary mission?
A Vatican diplomat can exemplify the Church’s missionary mission by showing that the Church is “missionary by its very nature” and that missionary work is not only preaching, but also a service of truth, charity, justice, peace, and communion carried out through credible, disciplined, and spiritually grounded presence in the world—especially among nations and international institutions.
Mission can be reduced to an event (“going somewhere”) only if one forgets that, in Catholic understanding, the Church’s mission is rooted in what she is. Vatican teaching presents the Church as a pilgrim people who “go forward together with all of mankind” and whose very law and goal are the new commandment of love and the Kingdom of God.
That is why the Church is said to be “missionary by its very nature”, and for each Christian the missionary duty is described as the normal expression of lived faith.
A Vatican diplomat, therefore, does not simply “represent interests.” When faithful to this ecclesial identity, diplomatic work becomes a concrete way the Church remains outward-looking—turned toward the world to bring God’s love—and thereby helps people discover their identity as God’s beloved children and become witnesses to truth, justice, and peace.
A common misunderstanding is to treat diplomacy as merely political maneuvering. Church teaching explicitly rejects that reduction. Pope John Paul II teaches that diplomacy of the Holy See is “essentially religious and spiritual in nature,” enabling a distinctive contribution to international life aimed at the good of humanity.
Pope Paul VI likewise states that the Holy See’s diplomatic activity responds to the mission the Church must fulfill in the contemporary world—especially by fostering unity among the human family, strengthening bonds between diverse communities, and promoting justice and peace.
Importantly, this diplomatic mission is presented as not inspired by self-affirmation or prestige and not in contradiction with the Church’s evangelizing mission. The first and fundamental purpose is described as serving the Church’s freedom and action “in all places and in all historical, political or social situations.”
In missionary terms: a Vatican diplomat exemplifies evangelization precisely when the diplomatic presence becomes an ordered channel through which the Church can offer moral support, protect religious freedom, and maintain conditions under which the Gospel can be proclaimed and lived.
The Church’s mission does not leave the concrete human person out of view. The same teaching that emphasizes salvation also connects mission to peace and the moral health of societies.
Pope Paul VI indicates that the Holy See’s diplomatic engagement helps the efforts to consolidate the community of nations, contributing “this ethical and spiritual content” without which such efforts would fail; the aim remains the Church’s proper goal, the spiritual salvation of men, while also working to promote dignity and progress in justice and peace.
The Compendium of the Social Doctrine adds a direct articulation of the diplomatic service’s instrumental purpose. It states that the diplomatic service of the Holy See is an instrument working not only for the freedom of the Church but also for the defence and promotion of human dignity and a social order grounded in justice, truth, freedom, and love.
This same source describes the structured dialogue between Church and civil authorities—expressed even through agreements—as aimed at mutual understanding, cooperation, and preventing or resolving disputes, ultimately contributing to justice and peace for every people and all humanity.
So a Vatican diplomat’s missionary “signature” is not measured only by proximity to explicit religious preaching. It is also measured by whether diplomatic labor becomes a witness to the Gospel’s moral fruit: human dignity and the peaceable ordering of societies, created so that the Church’s pastoral mission can bear fruit.
The missionary Church is not served by charisma alone. It is served by formation and a certain spiritual style of life.
Pope Francis, reforming the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, describes what diplomats must be: formation cannot be merely theoretical; they must develop “an approach to work and a lifestyle” that helps them understand the dynamics of international relations and be respected for how they grasp the “aspirations and difficulties” a synodal Church faces.
He names qualities that directly parallel missionary virtues: closeness, attentive listening, witness, a fraternal approach, and dialogue, combined with humility and meekness.
This is missionary because it mirrors how the Church “goes forward together with mankind,” not by coercion or domination, but by attentive presence and truthful engagement.
Moreover, missionary work belongs to the whole People of God: even theology is called to have pastoral and missionary intent and effect; likewise, Church service—including public and international work—must be animated by pastoral and missionary concern.
Thus a Vatican diplomat exemplifies missionary mission when diplomatic competence is integrated with spiritual discernment, humility, and witness, so that contacts and negotiations are not only effective but also morally credible and evangelically ordered.
Mission is also about communion—bringing local Churches into visible and lived unity with the Pope and vice versa.
Pope Francis explains that Papal Representatives are “a point of reference” and “custodians of that solicitude which moves from the centre to the peripheries,” making them sharers in the Church’s missionary outreach, and then leading back to the center the needs, reflections, and aspirations of local Churches.
He further describes their role as a pastoral activity reflecting their priestly spirit and human qualities, since they are called to make felt the presence of the Bishop of Rome, the “perpetual and visible principle and foundation of the unity.”
This clarifies how a diplomat’s work can truly be missionary: mission is not just outbound activity; it is also building communion so that the Gospel is sustained and adapted faithfully in each place.
Finally, Pope Francis notes that diplomats also represent the Pope before public authorities, manifesting the “innate and independent right of legation,” tied to the Petrine office.
In Catholic terms, this underlines that missionary outreach includes a juridical-spiritual dimension: the Church uses legitimate international means to preserve freedom of action and sustain pastoral communication.
Putting these strands together, a Vatican diplomat exemplifies the Church’s missionary mission when they:
A Vatican diplomat exemplifies the Church’s missionary mission when diplomatic life becomes an instrument of the Church’s very nature as missionary by its own being: outward, Spirit-led, and ordered to the salvation and moral renewal of humanity. In practice, this means diplomacy that is religious and spiritual, justice- and peace-oriented, animated by formation, listening, humility, and dialogue, and directed toward communion between the center and local Churches.