Pope John Paul II appointed Filoni as apostolic nuncio to Iraq and Jordan on 17 January 2001, naming him titularArchbishop of Volturnum.[2] He received episcopal consecration from Pope John Paul II on 19 March 2001. He chose Lumen Gentium Christus as his episcopal motto.[3]
Archbishop Filoni defended the freedom of the Catholic Church in Iraq under the regime of Saddam Hussein and – in line with the Pope's position – opposed the US invasion of the country in 2003.[4] He remained in Baghdad as American bombs fell,[5] which he called "nothing exceptional".[6] When Mario Vargas Llosa visited him in Baghdad in 2003, he described Filoni as "small, astute, tough as nails, talkative and an expert on emergencies", who described sadly how, just as predicted, it was "incredibly difficult to administer the peace".[7] After the fall of Saddam he recognized the new-found freedom enjoyed by the people, but he warned against the lack of security and the slow development of the economy. He expressed mixed feelings towards the new constitution, which he described as both a "positive step towards normalization in the country" and "contradictory in some areas",[8] and supported the peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims.
He came close to being killed in Baghdad on 1 February 2006, when a car bomb exploded next to the nunciature.[9] He served in Iraq and Jordan until 25 February 2006 when he was named Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines.[10]
Roman Curia
Substitute of the Secretariat of State
Pope Benedict XVI appointed Archbishop Filoni Substitute for General Affairs on 9 June 2007, effective 1 July.[4] During his four years as Substitute, it was Filoni's job to organise the activities of the Curia and the care of official translations of papal documents and correspondence; encryption dispatches messengers to be sent to the Registry of the papal letters, the resolution of legal issues, personnel management in the Curia and nunciatures, protocol and etiquette for visiting heads of state, information and media management, and Vatican archive management. He was also responsible for organizing the activities of nuncios around the world in their activities concerning the local churches.
Observers noted that during his time as substitute, Filoni never established a strong rapport with his immediate superior, Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone.[11]
In his August 2018 "Testimony", Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò reported that on 25 May 2008 he had sent Filoni a summary of information provided by an ex-priest named Gregory Littleton who attested to sexual abuse of priests and seminarians by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick along with the information included in Richard Sipe's recently published "Statement for Pope Benedict XVI" on McCarrick's sexual misconduct. He said that Filoni "knew in every detail the situation regarding Cardinal McCarrick".[13] Filoni received checks totalling $3,500 from McCarrick between 2008 and 2013.[14]
Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples
On 10 May 2011, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Filoni Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the Vatican department in charge of administering mission territories, in succession to Ivan Cardinal Dias, who had reached retirement age and had health problems.[15]La Nazione remarked that to be reassigned after only four years as Substitute was unusual and speculated that Filoni had been moved because of a "stormy" relationship with Bertone.[16]
^Filoni, Fernando The Church in Iraq (Washington,
DC: Catholic University of America Press), 2017; a translation of La Chiesa in Iraq (Vatican City State: Libreria Editrice Vaticana), 2015.
