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
Mitja Leskovar was born in
Kranj
Kranj (, german: Krainburg) is the third-largest city in Slovenia, with a population of 37,941 (2020). It is located approximately northwest of Ljubljana. The centre of the City Municipality of Kranj and of the traditional region of Upper Carniol ...
, Slovenia, on 3 January 1970 and grew up in
Kokrica
Kokrica (; german: Kokritz''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 56.) is a settlement just north of Kranj in the Upper Carniola region of S ...
. He entered the seminary in Ljubljana in 1989, where he earned a degree in theology. He was ordained a priest of the
Diocese of Ljubljana on 29 June 1995 from archbishop
Alojzij Šuštar
Alojzij Šuštar (14 November 1920 – 29 June 2007) was the Archbishop of Ljubljana from 1980 until 1997. He remained Archbishop Emeritus of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ljubljana after his retirement. He was born in Grmada near Trebnje and ...
.
[ After two years of pastoral work in Domžale, he continued his studies in Rome. He completed his master's degree in 1999 and earned a doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University.][
He joined the diplomatic service of the Holy See on 1 July 2001. His early assignments included stints in Bangladesh from 2001 to 2003, the General Affairs Section of the Secretariat of State in Rome from 2003 to 2014, Germany from 2015 to 2018, and India from 2018 to 2020.][
While working in Rome in 2012, he was tasked with reforming Vatican security procedures after Pope Benedict XVI's butler was arrested for allegedly leaking documents to an Italian journalist. This included adding enhanced security features to employee badges, new restrictions on physical access, and managing the handling of sensitive documents.
On 1 May 2020, Pope Francis appointed him titular archbishop of Beneventum and Apostolic Nuncio to Iraq.][ until 8 August 2020. He was consecrated by Cardinal Franc Rodé, co-consecrators the archbishop ]Stanislav Zore
Stanislav (Stane) Zore, Order of Friars Minor, O.F.M. (born 7 September 1958), is the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ljubljana and the metropolitan bishop of Ljubljana as well as the president of the Slovenian Bishops' Conference. ...
and the archbishop Jean-Marie Antoine Joseph Speich.
Honours
* Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, 25 July 2019
See also
* List of heads of the diplomatic missions of the Holy See
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leskovar, Mitja
Living people
1970 births
People from Kranj
Pontifical Gregorian University alumni
Apostolic Nuncios to Iraq
Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Diplomats of the Holy See
Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy alumni