By Paschal Norbert
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 16, 2024 (CISA) – Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Henryk Mieczysław Jagodziński, a native of Poland who has been serving as Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana and Titular Archbishop of Limosano, as his new representative to South Africa and Lesotho, the Holy See Press Office announced on April 16.
He takes over from Archbishop Peter Brian Wells who was appointed to Thailand and Cambodia in February 2023 after seven years of serving the Holy See in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, and Eswatini.
The Polish papal diplomat who was appointed to Ghana in May 2020 was born on January 1, 1969. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 3, 1995, and incardinated in the Catholic Diocese of Kielce, Poland.
After obtaining a degree in Canon Law he entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See on July 1, 2001.
He has served various Pontifical Representatives, including those in Belarus, Croatia, India, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition, he has also worked in the Third Section of the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, the Section for Relations with States. He speaks Polish, Italian, Frence, English, Croatian, Russian and Spanish.
Democratic Republic of Congo
In the Tuesday announcements, the Holy Father also appointed Archbishop Mitja Leskovar, titular Archbishop of Benevento, currently the Apostolic Nuncio to Iraq, as Apostolic Nuncio to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Mitja Leskovar as the Apostolic Nuncio to Iraq in May 2020. He was born on January 3, 1970, in Kranj, Slovenia and ordained a priest of the Catholic Archdiocese of Ljubljana on June 29, 1995.
He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See on July 1, 2001, and worked in the Pontifical Representation in Bangladesh, in the Section for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, and in the Pontifical Representations in Germany and India.
He holds a degree in canon law, and speaks Italian, English, German, Croatian, French, and Spanish.
