Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, President emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, President emeritus of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, was born on 23 November 1932 in Salerno, Italy. He was ordained a priest on 20 June 1957 and holds a doctorate in canon law.
He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1962 and worked in the Nunciatures in Nicaragua, The Philippines, Lebanon, Canada and Brazil. Between 1970-75 Cardinal Martino served in the Secretariat of State. On 14 September 1980 he was appointed titular Archbishop of Segermes and Nuncio in Thailand and Apostolic Delegate in Singapore, Malaysia, Laos and Brunei, and was consecrated on 14 December 1980 by the then Secretary of State, Cardinal Agostino Casaroli. In 1986 he was appointed Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York. In 1991 he founded the Path to Peace Foundation to further the Holy See’s mission at the U.N.

After 16 years of service as Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the U.N. Organization, in October 2002 he was appointed President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

On 25 October 2004, under the guidance of Cardinal Martino, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace published the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
On 11 March 2006, Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation, due to the limitation of age, of Cardinal Stephen Fumio Hamao, President of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, and has presently united the presidency of said Council with that of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace. Hence, Cardinal Martino was nominated President of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People.

President emeritus of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, 28 February 2009.

President emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, 24 October 2009.

He participated in the conclave of April 2005, which elected Pope Benedict XVI.

Created and proclaimed Cardinal by St. John Paul II in the Consistory of 21 October 2003, of the Deaconry of S. Francesco di Paola ai Monti (St. Francis of Paola ai Monti).

Cardinal Protodeacon, 12 June 2014.

Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino died on 28 Ocotber 2024.