 In 1970 he entered the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy to prepare for a career as a diplomat.He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1974, and served in the Pontifical diplomatic missions in France, Japan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Greece, Ecuador, Israel and the Palestinian Territories.On 7 August 1993 he was appointed Titular Archbishop of Botriana and Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Pakistan.