New Ambassador from Portugal

At 11:00am this morning, the Holy Father received His Excellency, Antonio Carlos Carvalho de Almeida Ribeiro, the newly-appointed Ambassador of Portugal to the Vatican, in audience.  During this initial meeting, His Excellency presented his credentials.

As with all countries who hold diplomatic relations with other nations, a newly-arrived Ambassador must present credentials to the Head of State before he is permitted to interact officially with the territory where he is representing his government.  The ceremony for the presentation of credentials is therefore an occasion for an initial meet and greet, and for introductions to be made so that the Ambassador in question is introduced to those with whom he will 'do buisiness' during his tenure.

Ambassadors are always referred to as His Excellency, which in this case is a title designating their function, as opposed to the same title which is used in the Church to designate a Bishop.

His Excellency, Antonio Carlos Carvalho de Almeida Ribeiro
Ambassador of Portugal to the Vatican was born in Lisbon on August 22, 1955.  He is married and has two sons.  He holds a degree in Law (University of Coimbra), and began is diplomatic career in 1979.  He has held the following positions:

• Officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1979-1981)
• Consultant in International Relations for the President of the Republic of Portugal (1981-1982)
• Third Secretary of the Embassy in Italy and alternate Representative to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (1982-1986)
• Second Secretary (1988-1990) and then First Secretary of the Embassy in Cape Verde (1990-1991)
• Chief of the Division of Management Services for Europe at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and seconded to the Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs (1991)
• Head of Cabinet for the Adjunct Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1992)
• Consul General in Great Britain (1994-1998)
• Vice-director general for bilateral relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1998-1999)
• Director General for the Administration Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1999-2000)
• Ambassador to Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia, with residence in Buenos Aires (2002-2007)
• Ambassador to Egypt, Jordan and Sudan, with residence in Cairo (2007-2009)
• Ambassador to the Political Committee for Safety of the European Union and standing diplomatic representative to the European Union for Western Europe (2009-2011)
• Director General for Foreign Policy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2011)
• Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2011-2013)