Pope Francis Appoints New Apostolic Nuncio To Belarus
- 13.05.2016, 14:09
An Apostolic nuncio remains the Pontiff’s constant representative in a state and local church.
Pope Francis has appointed the new Apostolic nuncio to Belarus on May 13 – Monsignor Gabor Pinter, former advisor of the Apostolic Nunciature in Austria, catholic.by writes.
An Apostolic nuncio remains the Pontiff’s constant representative in a state and local Church. A nuncio is a chief diplomat of Vatican in a country where he is sent to – he strengthens the bilateral connections and links between the Holy See and local Catholics, supports local bishops with his advice and example, protects the interests of the Church and the country.
“On behalf of the Conference of Catholic Bishops in Belarus I call on you to pray for the mission of the new Apostolic Nuncio to Belarus to be a success, for the good of the Church and our people,” — Head of the Conference of Catholic Bishops Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz has said in his appeal.
Gabor Pinter was born on March 9, 1969 in Hungary. He took up presbyteral ordination in 1988. Monsignor is a presbyter in a diocese of Vác (Hungary). He started the diplomatic service of the Vatican in 1996, he has worked in Bolivia, Haiti, the Scandinavian countries, France, the Philippines and Austria. He speaks Hungarian, German, Italian, English, French, Spanish, Creole, Swedish and Russian languages.
The previous Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti held his service in Belarus since mid summer 2011 till November 2015, and left his mission due to the new appointment as a head of Vatican’s diplomatic mission in Ukraine. In December, Monsignor Marinko Antolovich, first secretary of the Apostolic Nunciature in Minsk, was appointed charge d’affaires of Vatican in Belarus.
The list of Apostolic Nuncios in Belarus: Gabriel Montalvo Higuera (Columbia, 1993—1994), Agostino Marchetto (Italy, 1994—1996), Dominik Grusevski (Slovakia, 1996—2001), Ivan Jurkovič (Slovenia, 2001—2004), Martin Vidović (Croatia, 2004—2011), Claudio Gugerotti (Italy, 2011—2015).