Salvatore Siino was born on 5 October 1904 in
Capaci, Italy. He completed his ecclesiastical studies at the seminaries of Monreale and Palermo. He was ordained a priest of the
Archdiocese of Monreale on 5 April 1930. His graduate studies were finished at the Pontifical Institute for Ecclesiastical and Civil law in Rome. Having entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See he was assigned to the Apostolic Nunciatures of
Bolivia,
Chile and
Ecuador. While in Chile he combined his diplomatic duties with those of a professor at the
Catholic University of Santiago. In Quito (Ecuador) he taught both at the
National University and at the
Theological College of the Salesian Fathers. The
Catholic University of Santiago de Chile conferred upon him the Doctorate "Honoris Causa" and made him a Fellow of its Literary and Philosophical Academy. In 1950 he was promoted to the rank of "Consigliere di Nunziatura", and in 1951 was appointed
Domestic Prelate of His Holiness. From 1951 till 1953 he worked at Rome in the Second Section of the
Secretariat of State under Giovanni Battista Montini (future
Pope Paul VI) and was "entrusted with important and delicate duties", as Paul VI described. On 27 October 1953,
Pope Pius XII appointed him titular archbishop of
Perge and
Apostolic Nuncio to the Dominican Republic. He received his episcopal consecration on 29 November 1953 from Cardinal
Clemente Micara. He aligned himself with the authoritarian regime there, becoming "one of
Trujillo's most active flatterers and effusive supporters". On 14 March 1959,
Pope John XXIII named him
Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines. His reassignment, signaled a shift in the church's politics in Latin America. His funeral rites were held at Rome on 11 October 1963, were officiated by Cardinal
Amleto Cicognani, Secretary of State. The Pontificio Collegio-Seminario Filipino provided the altar and choir services. Present were Cardinal
Joseph Pizardo, Cardinal
Rufino Santos, and Cardinal
Efrem Forni; the prelates from the Secretariat of State led by
Antonio Samorè,
Angelo Dell'Acqua and Ernesto Camagni; the prelates from the "
Ante-Camera Pontificia" presided over by
Giovanni Nasalli Rocca di Corneliano; all the apostolic nuncios, internuncios and delegates in service headed by
Antonio Riberi and
Lino Zanini; the
Ambassador of the Philippines to the Holy See, Benigno Toda y Toledo, as well as
Ambassador of the Republic of Santo Domingo, with the personnel of their embassies. Prominent among them at the
Church of Santa Maria in Transpontina were the relatives of Siino. ==References ==