Gabriel Montalvo Higuera

Gabriel Montalvo Higuera (January 27, 1930—August 2, 2006) was born in Bogotá, Colombia. He was an archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church, and was the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States from 1998 until 2005.

Ministry and Assignments

Ordained a priest on January 18, 1953, just days before his 23rd birthday, Archbishop Montalvo has been the Papal representative to many countries.

• On June 14 1974, he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Honduras, Nicaragua by Pope Paul VI.
• He was consecrated a bishop on June 30, 1974, by Pope Paul VI.
  • At the same time, the pope appointed him the titular archbishop of Celene.
• On March 18 1980, Pope John Paul II appointed him Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Algeria and Tunisia and Apostolic Delegate to Libya.
• On June 12 1986, he was appointed Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Yugoslavia
• On April 17 1993, he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Belarus
• On April 29 1993, he was appointed President of Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy part of the Roman Curia.
• Pope John Paul II appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to the United States on December 7, 1998
• On December 17, 2005, he retired from his position as Apostolic Nuncio to the United States.

As the nuncio, he served as the ambassador of Vatican City to the United States, as well as serving as a senior communication link between the Holy See and the Catholic Church in the United States. Clerics receiving appointments from Rome are traditionally informed through him. The nuncio's official residence is the Nunciature to the United States in Washington, DC.

On August 2, 2006, Archbishop Montalvo died in Rome of lung cancer, a disease from which he had been suffering since before his retirement in December 2005. From his retirement until his death, he was under the care of the Sisters of Mercy.