Archbishop Christophe Pierre named Apostolic Nuncio to the United States

[UrbScotty]

Pope Francis has appointed the French-born Archbishop Christophe Pierre, one of the Holy See’s most distinguished and respected diplomats, as the new apostolic nuncio to the United States.

The Vatican made the announcement, April 12, after the Holy See received the formal agreement from the Obama administration. He succeeds Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò who served as nuncio to the United States since Oct. 10, 2011. The Italian archbishop now ends his long years of service to the Holy See, and will retire to his homeland.

At the time of his new assignment, Archbishop Pierre was nuncio to Mexico, a position he has held with considerable distinction for the past nine years, since March 22, 2007. He comes to Washington, D.C., as an experienced diplomat, with first-hand knowledge of the dramatic plight of migrants from Central America and Mexico to the United States, and will be able to give voice to Pope Francis’ concern for them.

As nuncio, he will be the Holy See’s point man in relations with the U.S. administration and with the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (U.S.C.C.B.). One of his most important roles will be the identification of candidates to be bishops in this country. Pope Francis has already outlined clearly the qualities he wants to see in future bishops, and the new nuncio will ensure this is reflected in the names he presents to Rome.

http://americamagazine.org/issue/pope-appoints-french-born-archbishop-christophe-pierre-new-nuncio-united-states