Pope Leo names Archbishop Caccia as US ambassador to Trump

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, an experienced Vatican diplomat, as the new ambassador to the United States.

Archbishop Caccia, 68, currently serves as the Holy See’s representative to the United Nations in New York. He takes over from French-born Cardinal Christophe Pierre, 80, who is retiring from his role as apostolic nuncio in Washington, News.Az reports, citing The Independent.

Before his UN posting in 2019, Caccia held ambassadorial positions in Lebanon and the Philippines.
Ordained a priest in Milan in 1983, he also served as an "assessor" within the Vatican secretariat of state, a significant administrative role.

He inherits a complicated and consequential dossier on both the U.S. church and state fronts.

Pierre’s tenure as ambassador was notable for clear signs of friction between the leadership of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which tends to skew conservative, and the more progressive priorities of Pope Francis’ pontificate.

The relationship with the U.S. and its church is crucial for the Holy See, not least because U.S. Catholics are the most generous donors to the Holy See’s coffers.

Leo, history’s first U.S.-born pope, is well aware of the dynamic, having served as Francis’ point man on bishop nominations for two years before his 2025 election. Leo has emphasized a message of pacification and unity in the church.

The first Trump administration clashed with Francis especially on migration, and that tension has continued in Leo’s pontificate and the second Trump term. Leo has repeatedly insisted that the Trump administration respect the human dignity of migrants, while acknowledging its right to its borders.

News.Az 

By Ulviyya Salmanli