Edward Joseph Adams (born August 24, 1944) is an American

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

who has served in the

diplomatic service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtain diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

of the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

since 1976. He was the

apostolic nuncio to Great Britain The Apostolic Nunciature to Great Britain is the diplomatic office of the Holy See in Great Britain. It is headed by the nuncio, Apostolic Nuncio, who has the rank of an ambassador (officially, the ''Apostolic Nuncio to the Court of St. James's ...

from 2017 to 2020 and held earlier postings in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, Asia, Africa and

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

Early life

Adams was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, on August 24, 1944. After his elementary education in Catholic grammar schools, he attended St. Joseph's Preparatory School at

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

and St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, both in Philadelphia. Adams was ordained a priest on May 16, 1970, by Cardinal

John Krol John Joseph Krol (October 26, 1910 – March 3, 1996) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He was Archbishop of Philadelphia from 1961 to 1988, having previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland (1953–19 ...

. Adams graduated from the

Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy The Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy (, ) is one of the Roman Colleges of the Catholic Church. The academy is dedicated to training priests to serve in the diplomatic corps and the Secretariat of State of the Holy See. Despite its name, the P ...

in Rome with a degree in

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

in 1976.

Diplomatic service

Adams entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See on March 8, 1976. He held positions in the office of the Secretary of State and in

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

, Kenya,

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

, the Republic of Ireland,

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

and the Czech Republic. Adams was appointed

apostolic nuncio An apostolic nuncio (; 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 organization. A nuncio is ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

and titular archbishop of Scala, on August 24, 1996. He was consecrated on October 23, 1996, in Rome by Cardinal

Angelo Sodano Angelo Raffaele Sodano (23 November 1927 – 27 May 2022) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the Dean of the College of Cardinals from 2005 to 2019 and previously as the Cardinal Secretary of State from 1991 to 2006; S ...

, the papal secretary of state. His principal co-consecrators were Cardinal

Anthony Bevilacqua Anthony Joseph Bevilacqua (June 17, 1923 – January 31, 2012) was an American cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1988 to 2003. Bevilacqua previously served as bishop of the Diocese ...

and Cardinal John Foley. After six years in Bangladesh, Adams was named apostolic nuncio to

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

on August 22, 2002 On September 3, 2007, he was appointed apostolic nuncio to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. On February 22, 2011, Adams was appointed papal nuncio to

and on April 8, 2017, he was named to replace Archbishop

Antonio Mennini Antonio Mennini (born 2 September 1947) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church. Having been appointed by Pope Benedict XVI, he served as the Nuncio to Great Britain from 18 December 2010 until 6 February 2017 when Pope Francis transferred ...

. Adams' title refers to "Great Britain" rather than "United Kingdom" because the nuncio has no role in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, a part of the United Kingdom. The Catholic Church in Northern Ireland is administered locally, with its apostolic nuncio based in Dublin. In February 2019, ''

the Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' reported that Adams received repeated requests for information to the

Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) in England and Wales was an inquiry examining how the country's institutions handled their Duty of care in English law, duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse. It was announced ...

(ICSA) held by the British Government. Adams did send a response to the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

because he said that was the appropriate channel. On October 5, 2019, an ICSA member was quoted by ''

The Tablet ''The Tablet'' is a Catholic Church, Catholic international weekly review published in London. Brendan Walsh, previously literary editor and then acting editor, was appointed editor in July 2017. History ''The Tablet'' was launched in 1840 by ...

'' as saying that the Holy See told ICSA that "the domestic laws and internal proceedings of a foreign sovereign entity are not the proper object for a British inquiry".

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

accepted Adam's resignation as apostolic nuncio to Great Britain on January 31, 2020.

Honors

''Commander'' of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

, July 23, 1993. * GRE Order of the Phoenix - Grand Cross BAR

''Grand Cross'' ('Μεγαλόσταυρος'),

Order of the Phoenix (Greece) The Order of the Phoenix () is an Order (decoration), order of Greece, established on 13 May 1926, by the republicanism, republican government of the Second Hellenic Republic to replace the defunct Order of George I, Royal Order of George I. T ...

, May 16, 2017."Deputy Foreign Minister I. Amanatidis meets with the Apostolic Nuncio of the Holy See in Greece" (news published at the website of the Embassy of Greece to the Vatican, dated May 17, 201

/ref>

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Edward Joseph 1944 births Living people Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy alumni 21st-century American Roman Catholic titular archbishops Clergy from Philadelphia Villanova University alumni Apostolic nuncios to Zimbabwe Apostolic nuncios to the Philippines Apostolic nuncios to Great Britain Apostolic nuncios to Bangladesh Apostolic nuncios to Greece 20th-century American Roman Catholic titular archbishops

Early life

Diplomatic service

Honors

See also

References

External links