Archbishop Alfio Rapisarda, a veteran Vatican diplomat who represented the Holy See across South America, Africa, and Europe, died Feb. 11, 2026. He was 92.
Born in Zafferana Etnea, Italy, Rapisarda was ordained a priest in 1957 and earned a doctorate in canon law. He joined the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1962 following studies at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. Early assignments took him to Honduras, Brazil, France, Yugoslavia, and Lebanon before he ascended to the rank of archbishop in 1979.
Pope John Paul II appointed Rapisarda as the apostolic nuncio to Bolivia that same year, marking the start of nearly 30 years as a papal representative. He later served as the nuncio to Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, from 1985 until 1992, when he returned to Brazil to lead the diplomatic mission there for a decade.
The final chapter of his career took place in Portugal, where he was appointed nuncio in 2002. During this tenure, Rapisarda facilitated the signing of a 2004 concordat between Portugal and the Holy See, updating a legal framework that had been in place since 1940. He remained in the post until his retirement was accepted by Pope Benedict XVI in 2008.