Pope Francis appointed last Monday the new apostolic nuncio to Belgium.

Newsroom (November 17, 2021, 4:40 PM, Gaudium Press) Monsignor Franco Coppola, until then apostolic nuncio to Mexico, has been appointed as the new apostolic nuncio to the Kingdom of Belgium.

He will take the place of Monsignor Augustin Kasujja who was nuncio in Belgium from 2016 until August 2021, when his resignation was accepted by the Holy See.

Originally from the Italian province of Lecce, Monsignor Coppola was born in 1957. He was ordained a priest in 1981. After his doctorate in canon law, he joined the Vatican’s diplomatic service in 1993.

Since then, Monsignor Coppola has assumed various diplomatic missions in Lebanon, Burundi, Colombia and Poland.

He later served as apostolic nuncio in Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad and most recently in Mexico.

The date of Monsignor Coppola’s arrival in Belgium is not yet set, but he is likely to take up his duties before Christmas.

The apostolic nuncio has two main functions. On the one hand, he is the Vatican’s representative to the nations which have diplomatic relations with the Holy See.

It is also the nuncio’s role to consult and suggest to Rome the names of priests who could ascend to the episcopate when a diocese needs it. (FM)

With information from Cathobel

Compiled by Zephania Gangl