The Apostolic Nunciature to South Africa the

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually den ...

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 R ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. It is located

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

. The current Apostolic Nuncio is Archbishop

Peter Bryan Wells Peter Bryan Wells (born May 12, 1963) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has spent most of his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He has worked in Rome in the administration of the Secretariat of State and i ...

, who was named to the position by

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

on 9 February 2016. The Apostolic Nunciature to the Republic of South Africa is an ecclesiastical office of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, with the rank of an

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually den ...

. The nuncio serves both as the ambassador of the Holy See to the President of South Africa, and as delegate and point-of-contact between the

Catholic hierarchy The hierarchy of the Catholic Church consists of its bishops, priests, and deacons. In the ecclesiological sense of the term, "hierarchy" strictly means the "holy ordering" of the Church, the Body of Christ, so to respect the diversity of gift ...

and 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 ...

. The nuncio is currently also accredited to Lesotho.

History

It was established on 25 June 1994. Until then the

maintained its representation through a series of delegations with increasingly narrow jurisdiction: the Delegation to Africa, the Delegation to Southern Africa, and the Delegation to South Africa.

List of papal representatives to South Africa

;Apostolic Delegates to Southern Africa * Bernard Gijlswijk, O.P. (2 December 1922 – 22 December 1944 ) *

Martin Lucas Martin Lucas (16 October 1894 – 3 March 1969) was a Catholic archbishop and diplomat of the Holy See. Biography Lucas was born in Haarlem, Netherlands, on 16 October 1894. He was ordained a priest of the Society of the Divine Word on 26 October ...

, S.V.D. (14 September 1945 – 3 December 1952 ) * Celestine Joseph Damiano (27 November 1952 – 24 January 1960 ) * Joseph Francis McGeough (17 September 1960 – 8 July 1967 ) * John Gordon (19 August 1967 – 1971 ) * Alfredo Poledrini (20 September 1971 – 18 September 1978 ) *

Edward Idris Cassidy Edward Idris Cassidy AC (5 July 1924 – 10 April 2021) was an Australian prelate of the Catholic Church who was president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity from 1989 to 2001. He headed the Commission of the Holy See f ...

(25 March 1979 – 6 November 1984 ) *

Joseph Mees Joseph Mees (18 April 1923 – 9 December 2001) was a Belgian prelate of the Catholic Church who spent his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See, including almost twenty years as an Apostolic Nuncio. Biography Joseph Mees was born in B ...

(19 January 1985 – October 1987 ) *

Ambrose Battista De Paoli Ambrose Battista De Paoli (August 19, 1934 – October 10, 2007) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. Biography De Paoli was born in Jeannette, Pennsylvania and was ordained a priest ...

(6 February 1988 – 24 June 1997 ) ;Apostolic Nuncios to South Africa *

(25 June 1994 – 11 November 1997 ) *

Manuel Monteiro de Castro Manuel Monteiro de Castro (born 29 March 1938) is a Portuguese prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1967 to 2009, with the rank of archbishop and the title of nuncio from 1985. His assignments a ...

(2 February 1998 – 1 March 2000 ) * Blasco Francisco Collaço (24 May 2000 – August 2006 ) * James Patrick Green (17 August 2006 – 15 October 2011) *

Mario Roberto Cassari Mario Roberto Cassari (27 August 1943 – 19 August 2017) was an Italian Roman Catholic archbishop and diplomat. He joined the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1977 and served as apostolic nuncio in several countries from the time he becam ...

(10 March 2012 – 22 May 2015) *

(9 February 2016 – 8 February 2023)

References

External links

* * {{Diplomatic missions in South Africa, state=collapsed