The Apostolic Nunciature to South Africa the

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes ...

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 ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It is located

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

. The current Apostolic Nuncio is

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Henryk Jagodzinski, who was named to the position by

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 ...

on 9 February 2016. The

Apostolic Nunciature An apostolic nunciature is a top-level diplomatic mission of the Holy See that is equivalent to an embassy. However, it neither issues visas nor has consul (representative), consulates. The head of the apostolic nunciature is called a ''nuncio ...

to the

Republic of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

is an ecclesiastical office of the

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 ...

, with the rank of an

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a Sovereign state, state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase ...

. The

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 ...

serves both as the ambassador of the Holy See to the

President of South Africa The president of South Africa is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa. The president directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander-in-chief of the South African National Defence F ...

, and as delegate and point-of-contact between the

Catholic hierarchy The hierarchy of the Catholic Church consists of its bishops, priests, and deacons. In the ecclesiological sense of the term, "hierarchy" strictly means the "holy ordering" of the church, the Body of Christ, so to respect the diversity of gif ...

and the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

. The Apostolic Nuncio to South Africa is usually also the Apostolic Nuncio to

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

Eswatini Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

and

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

upon his appointment to said nations.

History

It was established on 25 June 1994. Until then the

maintained its representation through a series of delegations with increasingly narrow jurisdiction: the Delegation to Africa, the Delegation to Southern Africa, and the Delegation to South Africa.

List of papal representatives to South Africa

;Apostolic Delegates to Southern Africa *

Bernard Gijlswijk Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It has West Germanic origin and is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern ...

, O.P. (2 December 1922 – 22 December 1944 ) *

Martin Lucas Martin Lucas (16 October 1894 – 3 March 1969) was a Catholic archbishop and diplomat of the Holy See. Biography Lucas was born in Haarlem, Netherlands, on 16 October 1894. He was ordained a priest of the Society of the Divine Word on 26 October ...

, S.V.D. (14 September 1945 – 3 December 1952 ) * Celestine Joseph Damiano (27 November 1952 – 24 January 1960 ) *

Joseph Francis McGeough Joseph Francis McGeough (29 August 1903 – 12 October 1970) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. Biography Joseph McGeough was born on 29 August 1903 in New York City. He studied at ...

(17 September 1960 – 8 July 1967 ) * John Gordon (19 August 1967 – 1971 ) * Alfredo Poledrini (20 September 1971 – 18 September 1978 ) *

Edward Idris Cassidy Edward Idris Cassidy AC (5 July 1924 – 10 April 2021) was an Australian prelate of the Catholic Church who was president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity from 1989 to 2001. He headed the Commission of the Holy See f ...

(25 March 1979 – 6 November 1984 ) * Joseph Mees (19 January 1985 – October 1987 ) * Ambrose Battista De Paoli (6 February 1988 – 24 June 1997 ) ;Apostolic Nuncios to South Africa * Ambrose Battista De Paoli (25 June 1994 – 11 November 1997 ) *

Manuel Monteiro de Castro Manuel Monteiro de Castro (born 29 March 1938) is a Portuguese prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1967 to 2009, with the rank of archbishop and the title of nuncio from 1985. His assignments ...

(2 February 1998 – 1 March 2000 ) *

Blasco Francisco Collaço Blasco Francisco Collaço (born 16 May 1931) is an Indian prelate of the Catholic Church who spent his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See, including 30 years as an apostolic nuncio. Biography Collaço was born in Raia, Goa, Ind ...

(24 May 2000 – August 2006 ) * James Patrick Green (17 August 2006 – 15 October 2011) *

Mario Roberto Cassari Mario Roberto Cassari (27 August 1943 – 19 August 2017) was an Italian Roman Catholic archbishop and diplomat. He joined the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1977 and served as apostolic nuncio in several countries from the time he became an ...

(10 March 2012 – 22 May 2015) * Peter Bryan Wells (9 February 2016 – 8 February 2023) *

Henryk Jagodziński Henryk Jagodziński (25 November 1925 – 6 January 2002) was a Polish rower. He competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics and the 1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially bran ...

(16 April 2024 – present)

References

External links

* * {{Diplomatic missions in South Africa, state=collapsed