Italian priest named new Papal Nuncio to PH

Pope Francis appointed 59-year old Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia as Vatican Representative to the country. (Photo by Martin Schulz/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

MANILA — Another Italian prelate has been named as new Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines.

Pope Francis appointed 59-year old Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia as Vatican Representative to the country.

According to an article posted on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) news website, the Vatican announced Caccia’s appointment Tuesday noon (6 p.m., Manila time), a day after the pontiff arrived back in Rome from a five-day apostolic visit to Colombia.

The new Papal Nuncio to the Philippines was the nuncio to Lebanon for eight years.

He succeeded to the post another Italian Archbishop, Giuseppe Pinto, who was transferred to Croatia in July this year.

Caccia’s new post in Manila will be his second assignment as papal ambassador.

In September 2009, he was elevated to the rank of archbishop.

Prior to his stint in Lebanon, the archbishop was the Assessor for General Affairs of the Vatican’s Secretariat of State.

A native of Milan, Caccia was born on February 24, 1958, and ordained as a priest on June 11, 1983.