The Apostolic Nunciature to the European Union 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 ...

. It is a diplomatic post 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 ...

, whose representative is called the

Apostolic Nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international org ...

with the rank of an ambassador. Its offices are in Brussels, which serves as the de facto capital of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

(EU). It was called the Apostolic Nunciature to the European Community until 2009. In 1963, the Holy See informed the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

(EEC), precursor to the European Community and the European Union, that it was interested in establishing diplomatic ties, its first with an international organization. Its overtures were blocked for several years first by French objections and then by the EEC's internal problems. Archbishop

Igino Eugenio Cardinale Igino Eugenio Cardinale (14 October 1916 – 24 March 1983) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who spent his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He held the title of archbishop and apostolic nuncio from 1963 until his death ...

, the Nuncio to Belgium, raised the issue anew in 1970 and proved successful.

Representatives to the European Union

The first nuncio to the European Community was already Apostolic Nuncio to Belgium and Luxembourg when he was simultaneously given the position of Nuncio to the European Community and

Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the Council of Europe The Council of Europe granted observer status to the Holy See on 7 March 1970, having maintained a lesser relationship since 1962, when the Apostolic Nuncio to Belgium was given the additional title Apostolic Delegate to the Council for Cultural ...

. He held all four titles until his death in 1983. Since then the posts of representatives to the EU and the Council have been held by different diplomats, the Brussels post being reserved to one with the rank of Nuncio and the other assigned to a member of the diplomatic corps who has not acquired that title. The second Nuncio to the European Community held simultaneous appointments to Belgium and Luxembourg. In 1999, the third Nuncio to the European Community was the first to hold it as his only position, a practice continued since then. *

(10 November 1970 - 24 March 1983) * Angelo Pedroni (6 July 1983 - 13 June 1989) * Giovanni Moretti (15 July 1989 – 22 January 1999) *

Faustino Sainz Muñoz Faustino Sainz Muñoz (5 June 1937 – 31 October 2012) was a Spanish prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the Nuncio to Great Britain from 2004 until December 2010, having been appointed by Pope John Paul II in 2004. Career Bor ...

(22 January 1999 - 11 December 2004) *

André Dupuy André Pierre Louis Dupuy (born 13 February 1940) is a French prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1974 to 2015. Biography André Pierre Louis Dupuy was born on 13 February 1940 in Soustons, ...

(24 February 2005 - 15 December 2011) *

Alain Paul Lebeaupin Alain Paul Charles Lebeaupin (2 March 1945 – 24 June 2021) was a French prelate of the Catholic Church who joined the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1979 and was the Apostolic Nuncio to the European Union from 2012 to 2020. Early lif ...

(23 June 2012 - 16 November 2020) *

Aldo Giordano Aldo Giordano (20 August 1954 – 2 December 2021) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who was Apostolic Nuncio to the European Union in 2021. He was previously Apostolic Nuncio to Venezuela from 2013 to 2021 and before that the Perm ...

(8 May 2021 – 2 December 2021) *

Noël Treanor Noël Treanor (born 25 December 1950) is an Irish prelate of the Catholic Church who was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to the European Union with the personal title of archbishop on 26 November 2022. He was Bishop of Down and Connor in Ireland fro ...

(26 November 2022 – present)

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Apostolic Nuncio To The European Union

Holy See–European Union relations

Representatives to the European Union

See also

Notes

References