Cardinal Emil Paul Tscherrig, a Swiss-born Vatican diplomat who served as an apostolic nuncio from 1996 until his retirement in 2024, died on May 12 at the age of 79.
As noted in his Vatican biography, the future Cardinal Tscherrig was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Sion, Switzerland, in 1974. He served as apostolic nuncio to Burundi (1996-2000), several Caribbean nations (2000-2004), South Korea and Mongolia (2004-2008), several Scandinavian nations (2008-2012), Argentina (2012-2017), and Italy and San Marino (2017-2024).
Pope Francis created him a cardinal in 2023.
With Cardinal Tscherrig’s death, there are now 242 members of the College of Cardinals, 118 of whom are eligible to take part in a papal election.