By Paschal Norbert
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 20, 2023 (CISA)- Pope Francis has appointed Fr Mauricio Rueda Beltz, under-secretary for Holy See Diplomatic Staff, as apostolic nuncio to Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire), and at the same time appointing him Titular Archbishop-elect of Cingoli, the Holy See Press Office announced on June 16, 2023.
Monsignor Mauricio Rueda Beltz was born in Bogotá, Columbia, on January 8, 1970. He was ordained a priest of the Catholic Archdiocese of Bogotá on December 19, 1996.
He joined the Holy See Diplomatic Service on July 1, 2004, and subsequently served in the Pontifical Representations in Guinea, Chile, the United States of America and Jordan. He transferred to the Section for Relations with States and International Organizations of the Secretariat of State, as head of the organization of Apostolic Journeys.
The Colombian priest, an experienced papal diplomat has accompanied Pope Francis on many of his apostolic journeys throughout the world. He was in charge of organizing the pope’s international visits from 2016 to 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he was temporarily transferred to Portugal as a counsellor in the nunciature and on December 17, 2020, appointed under-secretary of the Section for Holy See Diplomatic Staff at the offices of the Vatican Secretariat of State.
Monsignor Rueda Beltz speaks French, English, Italian and Portuguese, as well as Spanish. He is also an expert in Canon Law.
