Waldemar Stanisław Sommertag (born 6 February 1968) is a Polish prelate 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 ...

who works in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He was made an archbishop in 2018 and served as nuncio to Nicaragua from 2018 to 2022.

Biography

Sommertag was born on 6 February 1968 in

Więcbork Więcbork (; german: Vandsburg) is a town in northern Poland, located in the Sępólno County in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. In 2019 it had a population of 5,965. It is located within the ethnocultural region of Krajna. History After 96 ...

. On 30 May 1993, he was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Pelplin. To prepare for a diplomatic career he entered the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in 1998. He earned a degree in canon law and entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See on 19 June 2000. He worked in the nunciatures in Tanzania, Nicaragua, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel, Palestine and Cyprus, as well as in Rome in the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State. On 15 February 2018,

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. ...

appointed him

titular archbishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Traiectum ad Mosam and

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 ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

. He received his episcopal consecration from Pope Francis on 19 March. On 18 February 2019, Sommertag announced that Pope Francis had ended the suspension from priestly duties imposed on

Ernesto Cardenal Ernesto Cardenal Martínez (20 January 1925 – 1 March 2020) was a Nicaraguan Catholic priest, poet, and politician. He was a liberation theologian and the founder of the primitivist art community in the Solentiname Islands, where he lived fo ...

in 1984 for refusing to leave political office as ordered by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

. His tenure in Nicaragua was characterized by efforts to ease tension between the government and the political opposition, though the government came increasingly to view him, like the Catholic Church leadership in general, as an ally of its critics. For three years he quietly assisted in negotiations between the government and the families of its imprisoned critics, winning release for some, but he then began to use the term "political prisoners". On 18 November 2021, the Nicaraguan government decreed the abolition of the title "dean of the diplomatic corps", traditional accorded in Catholic countries to the representative of the Holy See. On 6 March 2022, he left Nicaragua after the government withdrew its acceptance of his diplomatic status, requiring him to leave the country. The move came amid heightened conflict between the Church and the dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega. On 6 September 2022, Pope Francis appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

Cabo Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ), ...

and Mauritania.

Notes

References

External links

Catholic Hierarchy: Archbishop Waldemar Stanisław Sommerta
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sommertag, Waldemar Stanisław 1968 births Living people Apostolic Nuncios to Nicaragua Apostolic Nuncios to Senegal Apostolic Nuncios to Cape Verde Apostolic Nuncios to Guinea-Bissau Apostolic Nuncios to Mauritania Polish Roman Catholic priests People from Więcbork Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy alumni Bishops appointed by Pope Francis 21st-century Roman Catholic titular archbishops

Biography

Notes

See also

References

External links