The Apostolic Nunciature to Nicaragua 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 ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

. It is a diplomatic post of the Holy See, whose representative is called the

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 ...

with the rank of an ambassador. The nuncio resides in

Managua Managua () is the capital city, capital and largest city of Nicaragua, and one of the List of largest cities in Central America, largest cities in Central America. Located on the shores of Lake Managua, the city had an estimated population of 1, ...

. The Holy See used a delegate—a member of its diplomatic corps not granted official status by their host country—to represent its interests to church officials, civil society, and the government until it appointed its first Apostolic Nuncio to Nicaragua in 1933. For fifty years the Nuncio held a second appointment as nuncio, usually to Honduras; since April 1986 the Nuncio to Nicaragua has held only that position. In 2021, as relations between the Church and the government of Nicaraguan dictator

Daniel Ortega José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (; ; born 11 November 1945) is a Nicaraguan politician and dictator who has been the president of Nicaragua, co-president of Nicaragua since 18 February 2025, alongside his wife Rosario Murillo. He was the 54th an ...

deteriorated, the government abolished the title "dean of the diplomatic corps", traditionally held by the representative of the Holy See. In March 2022, it withdrew its acceptance of the apostolic nuncio, Waldemar Stanisław Sommertag, ending his term as nuncio and forcing him to leave the country. The nunciature remains open.

List of papal representatives to Nicaragua

;Apostolic Delegates and Internuncios * Giovanni Cagliero, S.D.B. (26 December 1908 – 6 December 1915) * Giovanni Battista Marenco S.D.B. (2 February 1917 – 22 October 1921) *

Angelo Rotta Angelo Rotta (9 August 1872 – 1 February 1965) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church. As the Apostolic Nuncio in Budapest at the end of World War II, he was involved in the rescue of the Jews of Budapest from the Nazi Holocaust. He is ...

(16 October 1922 – 9 May 1925) *

Giuseppe Fietta Giuseppe Fietta (6 November 1883 – 1 October 1960) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1924 to 1958, including a stint as Apostolic Nuncio to Argentina from 1936 to 1953. He ...

(27 February 1926 – 23 September 1930) * Carlo Chiarlo (28 January 1932 – 30 September 1933) ;Apostolic Nuncios * Carlo Chiarlo (30 September 1933 – 1940) * Luigi Centoz (3 December 1941 – 4 October 1948) * Liberato Tosti (4 October 1948 – 1949) *

Antonio Taffi Antonio Taffi (11 December 1897 – 6 January 1970) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who served in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He became an archbishop in 1946 and led the offices representing the Holy See in Cuba, Nicaragua ...

(9 January 1950 – 1958) *

Sante Portalupi Sante Portalupi, also Portaluppi, (1 November 1909 – 31 March 1984) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who spent his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. From 1959 until his death, he held the senior position as apostolic ...

(29 January 1959 – 27 September 1967) *

Lorenzo Antonetti Lorenzo Antonetti (31 July 1922 – 10 April 2013) was a Cardinal in the Catholic Church, who held several positions in the Vatican diplomatic service. Early life and ordination Antonetti was born on 31 July 1922 in Romagnano Sesia, Kingdom o ...

(24 February 1968 – 29 June 1973) * Gabriel Montalvo Higuera (14 June 1974 – 18 March 1980) * Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo (25 October 1980 – 4 April 1986) * Paolo Giglio (4 April 1986 – 25 March 1995) * Luigi Travaglino (2 May 1995 – 30 October 2001) * Jean-Paul Gobel (31 October 2001 – 10 October 2007) * Henryk Józef Nowacki (28 November 2007 – 28 June 2012) * Fortunatus Nwachukwu (12 November 2012 – 4 November 2017) * Waldemar Stanisław Sommertag (15 February 2018 – 6 March 2022)

Notes

References

{{Diplomatic missions in Nicaragua

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 ...