MANILA — Papal Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia’s departure for a new assignment is a big loss for the country’s Catholic Church, former Philippine Ambassador to the Vatican Henrietta de Villa said Monday.
De Villa said Caccia has made the Church lovable and believable amid issues hounding the clergy.
“An authentic man of God whose presence made the Church lovable and believable in this time of indifference toward the Church. (This is) a big loss for the Catholic Church in the Philippines,” de Villa said in an interview.
De Villa said she was shocked over Caccia’s appointment as the Vatican’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations.
“Oh, I am dismayed. He’s so super active. Vacancies in our episcopate were filled up swiftly and with very good choices. Nuncio Caccia also made himself so available. He visited so many dioceses and parishes in record time,” de Villa added.
In an announcement on Saturday, the Vatican said Caccia will assume his new post in New York on Jan. 16, 2020.
Caccia becomes the seventh Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN since it became a Permanent Observer State on April 6, 1964.
The Italian archbishop was named Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines on September 12, 2017.