To prepare for a diplomatic career he entered the
Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in 1966. His early assignments in the diplomatic service included work at a meeting of the
Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) in 1974. On 28 May 1986,
Pope John Paul II appointed him a titular archbishop and
Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Indonesia. He received his episcopal consecration on 12 July 1986 from Cardinal
Agostino Casaroli.
Pope John Paul II visited
Indonesia while Canalini was nuncio there. On 20 July 1991, he was named
Apostolic Nuncio to Ecuador. On 5 December 1998, he was appointed
Apostolic Nuncio to Australia. On 8 September 2004,
Pope John Paul II named him Apostolic Nuncio to Switzerland and to Liechtenstein. He retired from the diplomatic service in April 2011. He was later Vicar of the
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. ==See also==