On the 8th July , at the Presidential Palace in Valletta, Monsignor Mario Roberto Cassari presented his credentials to the President of Malta Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca.
During the ceremony, the President of Malta and the Apostolic Nuncio discussed the very good relations between Malta and the Holy See.
Monsignor Mario Roberto Cassari was born in Ghilarza (Oristano, Italy) on 27th August 1943.
He was ordained priest on the 27th December 1969 and he was Incardinate at the Diocese of Ampurias e Tempio. He holds a degree in Theology.
After some years of pastoral ministry, he studied at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome and joined the Diplomatic Service of the Holy See on 5th March 1977. He then served in the Apolostic Nunciature in Pakistan, Colombia, Ecuador, Sudan, South Africa, Japan, Austria, Lithuania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Yugoslavia.
On the 3rd August 1999, he was appointed Titular Archbishop of Tronto and Apostolic Nuncio to Congo and Gabon. On 16th October 1999, he was consecrated as Bishop.
On the 31st July 2004, he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso, and on the 8th September 2004, he was appointed also Apostolic Nuncio to Niger.
In 2008, Monsignor Cassari was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Croatia and in 2012, he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland.
Monsignor Cassari is fluent in English, French, Spanish and Croatian.