When the earliest speculation as to who would succeed John Paul II began in the middle 1990s, Silvestrini was a popular choice among liberal observers because he was seen as a man in the more moderate style of Paul VI rather than John Paul's hardline style.
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Educated in Rome, Silvestrini became a priest in 1946 and after several years continuing his education in Rome via studies of theology, law and Church history, began a very long career in the Vatican Secretariat of State.
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He then turned his focus for the next five years to the renewal of the Lateran Treaty on its fiftieth anniversary, and his diplomatic skills allowed him to sign a revised treaty that reflected the rapid secularisation of Italy since the 1960s.
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In 1999 Silvestrini was the papal representative to the funeral of King Hussein of Jordan.
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Under Pope Paul VI, he continued as administrative secretary to Jean-Marie Villot, and his experience was welcomed by John Paul after he became Pope in 1978.
Achille Lauro | MS Achille Lauro | Achille Occhetto | Achille Loria | Achille Castiglioni | Pampa Galeras – Barbara D'Achille | Achille Valenciennes | Achille Marozzo | François Achille Longet | François Achille Bazaine | Achille Pierre Dionis du Séjour | Achille Duchêne | Achille Bonito Oliva | Silvestrini | One of the illustrations of ''Gamiani, or Two Nights of Excess'' published in Brussels in 1833. Illustration by Achille Devéria | HMS Achille | Guglielmo Achille Cavellini | Denis Jean Achille Luchaire | Achille Vertunni | Achille Starace | Achille Simonetti | Achille Sfondrini | Achille Rémy Percheron | Achille Mbembe | Achille Liénart | Achille in Sciro | Achille Guenée | Achille Funi | Achille Falcone | Achille Costa |