Cardinal Mario Zenari, a leading figure in papal diplomacy and still serving as apostolic nuncio to Syria, celebrated his 80th birthday on January 5, 2026, and thus leaves the College of Cardinal Electors called to participate in a possible conclave.
Difficult diplomacy is French prelate's hallmark; his 80th means non-electors now outnumber electors in College of Cardinals -- that's never happened before
The birthday of this fervent defender of the Christian presence in Syria brings the number of cardinal electors to 122, with 123 non-electors: non-elector cardinals now constitute the majority within the Sacred College, which is an unprecedented situation in the history of the Catholic Church.
Created a cardinal by Pope Francis, Zenari is one of those for whom the cardinal's scarlet — reminiscent of the blood of the martyrs — is not just a symbol. He is the Apostolic Nuncio in a country that has suffered what he describes as “the most serious man-made humanitarian disaster since the end of World War II.”
This papal diplomat has been present for more than 15 years among the Syrian people, to whom he has dedicated his cardinalate.
“How can a representative of the pope be credible if he flees from the place where he is most needed?” he told L'Avvenire in 2014, as Syria sank into the abyss.
Decades of tricky missions
Born in Verona in 1946, Mario Zenari, who dreamed of becoming a country priest, entered the Vatican's diplomatic service in 1980, going on to gain experience in Senegal, Liberia, Colombia, Germany, and Romania.
In 1994, he was appointed permanent observer of the Holy See to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and the United Nations Office in Vienna.
Pope John Paul II then made him archbishop and in 1999 appointed him apostolic nuncio to Côte d'Ivoire, Niger, and Burkina Faso. This was a delicate position, as Rome asked him to propose the Holy See's mediation in the political and military crisis that engulfed Côte d'Ivoire in 2002.
Two years later, he was sent to Sri Lanka, where he inherited another crisis, this time between the Sinhalese and Tamils, which was tearing the Catholic community apart.
Syria, a country torn apart by outside interference
The Italian nuncio was about to celebrate his 63rd birthday when, in 2008, Benedict XVI appointed him to Syria. A few years later, in March 2011, the wave of the “Arab Spring” swept across the country. President Bashar al-Assad suppressed opposition to his regime, and the country sank into a civil war in which many international powers became involved.
Blood flowed, and the diplomat warned of the tragedy unfolding in a country that still had more than a million Christians in 2011. He cautioned that the violence was not specifically targeting them and that the suffering of Christians was the same as that endured by other Syrian citizens. He also explained that Sunnis have paid the highest price in this war, due to to the hydra that is the “Islamic State.”
In September 2013, while Western powers were hesitant to intervene militarily and US President Barack Obama was speaking of a red line, he was one of the organizers of the large prayer vigil held in St. Peter's Square by Pope Francis for peace in Syria.
A tireless advocate for dialogue
Faithful to the Holy See's line, Nuncio Zenari campaigned with all his might in order that a solution to the conflict might be found at the table of the United Nations. He maintained dialogue with President Bashar Al-Assad, whom he met officially on three occasions, but remained outspoken. He didn’t hesitate to denounce the abuses of the regime as well as those of the Islamist opposition.
A discreet man by nature, Cardinal Zenari has always striven to bear witness to the atrocities of war, which he himself nearly fell victim to. In November 2013, a rocket landed on the terrace of the nunciature in Damascus. It missed him by just five meters (16 feet).
He reminds Western media outlets that are tired of covering a conflict overshadowed by others, that the catastrophe is not over. More than 500,000 people have died, he points out, and more than 11 million Syrians have been displaced. The “bomb” of poverty is wreaking havoc.
He has called unsuccessfully for the lifting of international sanctions, which penalize the population more harshly than the regime's leaders.
A diplomat with his feet on the ground
He has become a diplomat in the field, crisscrossing regions and cities ravaged by shells and applying to the letter Pope Francis' wish for a “field hospital Church.” He worked to coordinate humanitarian funds from Christian organizations, which financed health projects in particular.
The archbishop also felt the urgent need to help the Christian minority, which now represents less than 3% of the population. With the war, two-thirds of Christians have fled the country, and among them, often the most educated. The bishops, too, are weary and need a breath of fresh air to face a hopeless daily reality.
In 2016, when Pope Francis created new cardinals, he made a point of announcing Mario Zenari's name first, an honor that reveals the esteem in which the Argentine pontiff held the man who, over the months, became the pope’s eyes and ears in Syria.
Upon receiving the cardinal's biretta, the Italian diplomat also became the first apostolic nuncio in office to be created a cardinal since the establishment of the Church's modern diplomacy.
On the day of the consistory, in St. Peter's Basilica, Mario Zenari pleaded before the pope and his brother cardinals for a Church of the “Good Samaritan,” which cares for the “millions of ‘unfortunate’ people,” adults and children [...] left dead or half-dead in the streets of their villages and neighborhoods, or under the rubble of their homes and schools."
Signs of hope
In 2024, however, the fall of Bashar al-Assad gave him reason to hope, and he began to defend the place of Christians in Syria under the new regime, which had not been formally recognized by the Holy See.
Despite signs of openness from President Ahmed al-Charaa, who has taken care to meet with Christian leaders, the situation of the Church remains very uncertain and violence continues.
An Orthodox church was attacked in Damascus on June 22 in a strike that claimed the lives of 25 people, and on December 31, an attack in the Christian quarter of Aleppo was foiled thanks to the intervention of a Muslim police officer, who lost his life.
A delicate succession in Damascus
Cardinal Mario Zenari participated in the recent conclave in May 2025, which led to the election of Pope Leo XIV.
On May 18, in St. Peter's Square, during the Mass for the installation of the new pontiff, at the last minute he replaced French Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, who had fallen ill, for the rite of imposing the pallium.
Cardinal Zenari's 80th birthday precedes that of another high-ranking papal diplomat: French Cardinal Christophe Pierre, also still in office as apostolic nuncio to the United States, will turn 80 on January 30.
The appointments of their respective successors will be closely scrutinized, but in the case of Cardinal Zenari's successor, the question of the nuncio's accreditation with the new Syrian authorities will arise.
The Holy See's cautious approach could suggest an extension of Cardinal Zenari's mandate in Damascus, even though he is already a decade past the retirement age for nuncios, which is 70.
