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Pope Leo XIV named Archbishop Gabriele Caccia as the Holy See’s new ambassador to the United States, putting a veteran Vatican diplomat into one of the Holy See’s most closely watched bilateral relationships at a time when U.S. diplomacy has been strained with the Vatican over issues including Iran and migration.
The Vatican said the 68-year-old Caccia will move from his current post as the Holy See’s ambassador to the United Nations in New York. He will replace French-born Cardinal Christophe Pierre, who is retiring as apostolic nuncio in Washington at age 80.
Before his assignment to the United Nations, Caccia served as the Holy See’s ambassador to Lebanon and the Philippines. The AP account also said he was ordained a priest in Milan in 1983, later serving as “assessor” in the Vatican secretariat of state, a key administrative position within the Holy See’s most important office.
Caccia inherits a difficult diplomatic context for the Holy See on both the U.S. church and state sides, according to AP reporting, at a time of global turmoil. AP noted that Pierre’s tenure as ambassador included clear signs of friction between the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which has generally leaned more conservative, and the more progressive priorities associated with Pope Francis’ pontificate.
The AP story also linked the timing of the appointment to the broader relationship between Pope Leo XIV and the Trump administration. It said the first Trump administration clashed with Francis particularly on migration, and that tension has continued into Leo’s pontificate, with Leo repeatedly calling for the administration to respect the human dignity of migrants while also acknowledging the administration’s right to its borders.
More recently, AP reported that Leo has expressed “profound concern” about the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran and urged both sides to “stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss.” In comments made the Sunday before AP’s filing date, Leo called for the resumption of diplomacy, saying weapons only sow “destruction, pain and death.”
The AP account added that in a major foreign policy speech earlier in the year, Leo made clear he opposed what it described as the U.S. aggressive use of military power, including in apparent references to Washington’s incursion in Venezuela and threats related to Greenland. Leo also denounced how nations use force to assert dominion worldwide and “completely undermine” the peace and the post-World War II international legal order.
In a statement Saturday, Caccia said he was humbled by Leo’s appointment and faith in naming him ambassador to his native country. “I receive this mission with both joy and a sense of trepidation,” Vatican News reported him as saying, adding that his mission would be “at the service of communion and peace,” and noting that this year marks the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence.
Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, the current president of the U.S. conference of Catholic bishops, welcomed Caccia’s appointment and offered what AP described as the U.S. hierarchy’s “warmest welcome and our prayerful support.” The Holy See has a tradition of diplomatic neutrality, while Pope Leo XIV has nevertheless spoken out strongly about humanitarian tolls in other conflicts, including in Gaza and Ukraine, AP reported.