MIAMI, United States. – The Cuban Conference of Catholic Bishops (COCC) received this Wednesday on the island Monsignor Antoine Camilleri, the new apostolic nuncio in the largest of the Antilles appointed by the Pope FranciscoThe prelate, originally from Malta, had already served at the Vatican diplomatic headquarters in Havana during the years 2005 and 2006.
“He said he was happy to be back in the house that welcomed him 18 years ago,” the COCC said in a statement. quoted by ACI Prensa agency. Furthermore, according to the same source, Camilleri expressed his willingness to support and accompany the Cuban Church in its mission.
During the welcoming ceremony, the new apostolic nuncio handed his letter of introduction to the president of the Cuban Episcopate, Monsignor Emilio Aranguren, who thanked him for his presence in a country where “a poor, needy and weak Church pilgrimages, but which remains and is alive.”
Aranguren also stressed the importance of maintaining a “close bond of communion between the Pope, the Nunciature in Cuba and the small episcopal college that he presides over.”
Camilleri is the third nuncio appointed by the Pope to Cuba and the eleventh Vatican representative in the country since 1948.
Monsignor Antoine Camilleri was born in Sliema, Malta, in 1965, and was ordained a priest in 1991. He holds a degree in Jurisprudence and Canon Law. Since joining the diplomatic service of Malta, he has worked in the fields of law, law, and religion. The Vaticanin 1999, has worked in Papua New Guinea, Uganda and Cuba.
In 2013, Benedict XVI appointed him Undersecretary of the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State. Then, in 2019, Pope Francis appointed him Titular Archbishop of Skálholt and Apostolic Nuncio, assigning him to Ethiopia, Djibouti, the African Union and Somalia.
According to Vatican NewsThe new apostolic nuncio in Cuba is fluent in several languages, including Italian, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Romanian and Russian.
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