From OSV News:
Pope Leo XIV has named Archbishop Gabriele Caccia as the Vatican’s ambassador to the United States, selecting a seasoned diplomat to serve as a crucial liaison between Rome and the pope’s home country.
The Vatican announced the appointment of the new apostolic nuncio March 7, naming Archbishop Caccia, 68, to succeed Cardinal Christophe Pierre, who turned 80 in January and had served in the post since 2016.
A nuncio is a Vatican diplomatic representative with the rank of ambassador. He acts as both the Holy See’s ambassador to the government and its representative to the Catholic Church in the host country, maintaining ties between local bishops and Rome.
Archbishop Caccia, a native of Milan, already has significant experience in the United States, having served as the permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York since 2020.
As papal nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Caccia will play a key role in the selection process for U.S. bishop appointments and will serve as a point of contact between the bishops and clergy in the United States and the pope, in addition to carrying out the diplomatic tasks of a foreign ambassador serving in the United States.
Like his predecessor, Archbishop Caccia will serve as the pope’s key contact with President Donald Trump’s administration at a time when the administration’s immigration policies have been increasingly met by resistance by the U.S. bishops.
Vatican News adds:
Archbishop Caccia was born in Milan on February 24, 1958. Ordained a priest in 1983 by Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, he served at the parish of San Giovanni Bosco in Milan until 1986. He was then sent to the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome. He then obtained a Doctorate in Theology and a Licentiate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Gregorian University.
He joined the Diplomatic Service of the Holy See in 1991 and was assigned to the Papal Representation in Tanzania. In 1993, he was called to serve in the Section for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, in the Secretariat of the Substitute. In 2002, he was appointed Assessor for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State.
In July 2009, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Lebanon and Archbishop-Titular Bishop of Sepino. He received the episcopal ordination from the Pope himself on September 12 of that year.
In 2017, Pope Francis nominated him Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines and then in 2019 as Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations.
