President of The Pontifical Council For Justice and Peace
On 1 October 2002, Martino was named President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. He became a member of the College of Cardinals in 2003. Martino was named President of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants on March 11, 2006.
Martino was elevated to the College of Cardinals in the consistory of 21 October 2003 becoming Cardinal-Deacon of S. Francesco di Paola ai Monti. Martino was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI.
Concerning the case of Terri Schiavo, Martino publicly intervened in order to save Terri, to no avail.
On 6 November 2006, after the death sentence had been passed on Saddam Hussein, Martino said that:
...punishing a crime with another crime – which is what killing for vengeance is – would mean that we are still at the point of demanding an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth...
He pleaded for clemency for Hussein and called for a peace conference aimed at solving all the major conflicts in the Middle East and reiterated his position that invasion of Iraq by U.S.-led coalition was wrong.
Cardinal Martino has taken a great interest in automobiles and has proclaimed the Ten Commandments for Drivers. He has collaborated with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile and has condemned activities of Oswald Mosley as immoral.
On the topic of genetically modified organisms, he has advocated a cautious use of GMOs, asserting that they may indeed help feed the hungry, although they will most likely not solve all food problems on earth.
On 14 June 2007, Martino urged Catholics to withhold donations to Amnesty International in response to the group's decision to advocate in favor of access to abortion in rare cases, which placed Amnesty in conflict with the Catholic view of the human fetus as a rights-holder.
Later in 2007, he participated in the Annapolis conference on peace in the Holy Land. He has led high-level diplomatic talks between Israelis and Palestinians, and has much experience in Mideast diplomacy. He has represented the Vatican view of moral equivalence and has said that both sides are "guilty" and that it is "necessary to separate them, like two fighting siblings are separated", and make them "sit down to negotiate.
Speaking on the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict Cardinal Martino said that "The consequences of egoism are hatred, poverty and injustice. It's always the unarmed populations who pay. Look at the conditions in Gaza – more and more, it resembles a huge concentration camp." In response to this the Israeli government said that Cardinal Martino had swallowed "'Hamas propaganda" and invited him to reflect and apologize for what it called his inflammatory message.
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