Pope Francis appoints Filipino archbishop as Holy See’s permanent representative to UN

Pope Francis’ visit in Israel comes to an end as the pope departs from Ben Gurion Intl. airport. Photo courtesy of Israel’s Foreign Ministry – Digital Diplomacy Team / Twitter

MANILA — A Filipino Catholic prelate has been named as the Vatican’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York.

Pope Francis appointed 55-year old Archbishop Bernardito Cleopas Auza, the Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti, to the post.

According to an article posted at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) website, the announcement appeared in the L’Osservatore Romano, the Holy See’s official newspaper.

Auza will succeed Archbishop Francis Chullikatt from India, the first non-Italian to have acted as the Holy See’s Permanent Representative to the UN.

He leaves his diplomatic position after the normal four-year stint expected of a Vatican diplomat.

No announcement yet as to where his next post will be.

A native of Talibon, Bohol, Auza was consecrated Titular Archbishop of Suacia on May 8, 2008, the same day he was appointed Nuncio to Haiti. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, then Secretary of State, was his principal consecrator.

He was Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti and also Apostolic Administrator of the capital city Porte-au-Prince after the magnitude 7.0 earthquake in 2010.

Auza is a career diplomat, having worked at various diplomatic posts including Madagascar and the South Indian Ocean in 1990 to 1993.

He was a member of the Permanent Mission of the Holy See to the UN before assuming his post in Haiti.