) was one of the most prominent Vatican

Holy See

The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

 diplomat

Diplomat

A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...

s during the long reign of John Paul II

Pope John Paul II

Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...

. He was Cardinal

Cardinal (Catholicism)

A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...

 Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches

Congregation for the Oriental Churches

The Congregation for the Oriental Churches is the dicastery of the Roman Curia responsible for contact with the Eastern Catholic Churches for the sake of assisting their development, protecting their rights and also maintaining whole and entire in the one Catholic Church, alongside the liturgical,...

 between 1991 and 2000.

Early life and ordination

Educated in Rome, Silvestrini became a priest in 1946 and after several years continuing his education in Rome via studies of theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

, law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

 and Church history

History

History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

, began a very long career in the Vatican Secretariat of State. By the time of the death of Pius XII he was a well-established servant there, and after the election of Pope John XXIII

Pope John XXIII

-Papal election:Following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Roncalli was elected Pope, to his great surprise. He had even arrived in the Vatican with a return train ticket to Venice. Many had considered Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan, a possible candidate, but, although archbishop...

 in 1958 Silvestrini became administrative secretary to Domenico Tardini and Amleto Giovanni Cicognani. Under Pope Paul VI

Pope Paul VI

Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...

, he continued as administrative secretary to Jean-Marie Villot, and his experience was welcomed by John Paul after he became Pope in 1978.

Bishop and Diplomat

Silvestrini became titular

Titular (Catholicism)

In Roman Catholicism, a titular can be:*the cardinal who holds a titulus, one of the main churches of Rome. Such holders were initially by tradition native-born Romans . The first church in Rome to have a non-Italian titular was Santi Quattro Coronati: Dietrich of Trier was appointed titular in...

 Archbishop of Novaliciana on 27 May 1979 and was consecrated by two other figures who were to play important administrative roles in John Paul's long papacy - Eduardo Martínez Somalo

Eduardo Martínez Somalo

Eduardo Martínez Somalo is a Spanish Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.-Early life and ordination:Martínez Somalo was born in the small town of Baños de Río Tobía in La Rioja, Spain, and had five brothers and four sisters...

 and Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy.

He then turned his focus for the next five years to the renewal of the Lateran Treaty on its fiftieth anniversary, and his diplomatic skills allowed him to sign a revised treaty that reflected the rapid secularisation of Italy since the 1960s.

He was involved in a number of other concordats between the Vatican and nation-states, most notably in the Falklands War

Falklands War

The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...

 of the early 1980s and the war in Nicaragua

Nicaragua

Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...

 slightly later.

Cardinal

On 28 June 1988 Silvestrini was rewarded for his service with a cardinal's hat, becoming Cardinal-Deacon of S. Benedetto fuori Porta S. Paolo and three years later he became Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.

In 1999 Silvestrini was the papal representative to the funeral of King Hussein of Jordan. He retired from his post as Prefect a year later.

Papal elections

When the earliest speculation as to who would succeed John Paul II began in the middle 1990s, Silvestrini was a popular choice among liberal observers because he was seen as a man in the more moderate style of Paul VI

Pope Paul VI

Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...

 rather than John Paul's hardline style. It was always noted by Vatican-watchers that his age would make him a very slim chance, though.

When he turned eighty and thus became destined never to vote in a conclave

Papal conclave

A papal conclave is a meeting of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a Bishop of Rome, who then becomes the Pope during a period of vacancy in the papal office. The Pope is considered by Roman Catholics to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and earthly head of the Roman Catholic Church...

 in October 2003, Silvestrini became known as, along with his longtime counterpart Cardinal Giovanni Cheli

Giovanni Cheli

Giovanni Cheli is a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and was, along with Achille Silvestrini and Pio Laghi, one of the most prominent Vatican diplomats under Pope John Paul II.-Early life and ordination:...

 as the strongest critic of that rule among over-eighties

Cardinals over 80 in Papal conclave, 2005

This is a list of Roman Catholic Cardinals over the age of 80 as of the death of Pope John Paul II on April 2, 2005. As such, they were ineligible to vote in the Papal conclave beginning April 18 to elect John Paul's successor...

 during the 2005 conclave

Papal conclave, 2005

The Papal conclave of 2005 was convened as a result of the death of Pope John Paul II on 2 April 2005. After his death, the cardinals who were in Rome met and set a date for the beginning of the conclave to elect John Paul's successor. The conclave began on 18 April 2005 and ended on the following...

. Silvestrini actually took no part in this conclave even during the pre-conclave discussions.