The Apostolic Nuncio to Iraq is the representative of the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. He is appointed by the

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

and represents all Catholics in the country, both

Latin Rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church ''sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language once ...

and

Eastern Catholic The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of t ...

. Since 1966 the government of Iraq has had full diplomatic relations with the Holy See and as such the papal representative is titled Nuncio. During the

2003 Iraq War The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

, the Holy See was the only sovereign state to keep its ambassador in Iraq.

Apostolic Delegates and Nuncios

; Apostolic Delegate to Mesopotamia, Kurdistan, and Lesser Armenia * Henri-Marie Amanton (10 March 1857 - 27 March 1865 ) * Eugène-Louis-Marie Lion (13 March 1874 - 8 August 1883) * Henri-Victor Altamayer, OP (27 March 1884 - 28 August 1902) * François Désiré Drure, OCD (5 March 1904 - 27 May 1917) *

François Berré François Dominique Berré, OP (13 September 1857 – 4 April 1929) was a French prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in Iraq as a missionary, bishop and apostolic delegate. Biography François Dominique Berré was born on 13 September 1857 i ...

, OP (19 September 1922 – 4 May 1929) *

Antonin Drapier Antonin-Fernand Drapier (28 April 1891 – 30 July 1967) was a French prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He was born on 28 April 1891 in Creuë-en-Woëvre, France. He was ordained priest of th ...

, OP (23 November 1929 – 19 November 1936) ;Apostolic Delegate to Iraq *

Georges-Marie de Jonghe d'Ardoye Georges-Marie de Jonghe d'Ardoye, MEP (23 April 1887 – 27 August 1961) was a Belgian prelate of the Catholic Church who worked as a missionary in China and then held several posts in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. Biography De Jonghe d ...

, MEP (17 October 1938 – 6 July 1947) * Armand-Etienne M. Blanquet du Chayla, OCD (20 November 1948 – 17 September 1964 ) * Maurice Perrin (31 July 1965 - 16 January 1970) ;Apostolic Pro-Nuncios * Paolo Mosconi (11 April 1970 - May 1971) *

Jean Rupp Jean-Édouard-Lucien Rupp (13 October 1905 – 28 January 1983) was a French prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Bishop of Monaco from 1962 to 1971 and then worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See until he retired in 1980. Biogr ...

(8 May 1971 - 1978) * Antonio del Giudice (22 December 1978 - 20 August 1982) * Luigi Conti (19 November 1983 - 17 January 1987) * Marian Oleś (28 November 1987 - 9 April 1994) ;Apostolic Nuncios *

Giuseppe Lazzarotto Giuseppe Lazzarotto KC*HS (born 24 May 1942) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1971 to 2017, with the rank of apostolic nuncio and an archbishop since 1994. Biography Giusep ...

(23 July 1994 - 11 November 2000) *

Fernando Filoni Fernando Filoni (born 15 April 1946) is a cardinal prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who serves as Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre. He was Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples from 2011 to 2 ...

(17 January 2001 - 25 February 2006) * Francis Chullikatt (29 April 2006 - 17 July 2010) * Giorgio Lingua (4 September 2010 - 17 March 2015) * Alberto Ortega Martín (1 August 2015 – 7 October 2019) *

Mitja Leskovar Mitja Leskovar (born 3 January 1970) is a Slovenian priest of the Catholic Church who has been named a titular archbishop and appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Iraq. He has worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See since 2001. Biography M ...

(1 May 2020 – present)

References

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