Cardinal Bertone’s tribute to late Archbishop Ambrose Madtha

December 17, 2012 - Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone on Monday paid tribute to late Indian Archbishop Ambrose Madtha, Apostolic Nuncio to Ivory Coast who died in a car accident on Dec. 8 in the West African nation. Cardinal Bertone celebrated a memorial mass for the soul of the papal legate in the Vatican expressing his pain for the loss of the zealous pastor representative who was full of maturity and the sense of mission. He loved and served all his life, in generous readiness to the Holy See and sincere fidelity to the Pope, Cardinal Bertone recalled. Commenting on the spirituality of Archbishop Madtha, Cardinal Bertone said he was faithful to the Lord’s advice of being ready, watching and praying, his lamp always lit. The Vatican Secretary of State particularly mentioned the Indian prelate’s efforts in mediating peace and reconciliation in Ivory Coast in a spirit of humility, simplicity and serene openness to dialogue with all. Archbishop Madtha was credited with behind-the-scene diplomacy in brokering a peace deal in Ivory Coast’s 2010-11 political crisis when the previous ruler, Laurent Gbagbo, refused to step down even though Ouattara was declared winner of presidential elections. Born in Belthangady, Karnataka state, on Nov. 2, 1955, Archbishop Madtha holds a Masters degree in Economics from Nagpur University and Bachelors in Education from Lucknow University. He studied Philosophy and Theology at St Charles Seminary, Nagpur and obtained doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Urban University of Rome. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1982 for Lucknow Diocese. Archbishop Madtha’s began serving in the Holy See’s diplomatic mission in June 1990 in Ghana and thereafter in El Salvador, Georgia, Albania e Taiwan. He was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Ivory Coast in 2008.