VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican says its ambassador to the United States Archbishop Pietro Sambi has died in a U.S. hospital after suffering complications after recent lung surgery.
Sambi, 73, died Wednesday in Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore where he had been placed on assisted ventilation. He had undergone surgery two weeks ago.
The Italian prelate had served as papal representative in Washington since 2006, one of Pope Benedict XVI’s first major appointees. Previous posts in the Vatican’s diplomatic corps included Israel and Indonesia.
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