CISA
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 14, 2025 (CISA) – Pope Francis has appointed Nigerian prelate, Archbishop Brian Ngozi Udaigwe, as the new Apostolic Nuncio to Ethiopia. The Holy See Press Office announced the appointment on April 12, 2025. Until this new assignment, Archbishop Udaigwe had been serving as the Apostolic Nuncio to Sri Lanka.
Archbishop Brian Ngozi Udaigwe, a native of the Catholic Diocese of Orlu in Nigeria, was born in southwestern Cameroon. A distinguished alumnus of the Bigard Memorial Seminary, he has had a long and accomplished career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See.
He was ordained a priest for the Catholic Diocese of Orlu on May 2, 1992. After his ordination, he pursued further studies at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome, and officially entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See on July 1, 1994.
His early diplomatic assignments took him to Apostolic Nunciatures in Zimbabwe, the Ivory Coast, Haiti, Bulgaria, Thailand, and the United Kingdom.
On February 22, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him titular Archbishop of Suelli and Apostolic Nuncio. He was consecrated a bishop on April 27, 2013, by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, then Vatican Secretary of State.
Shortly thereafter, Pope Francis appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Benin on April 8, 2013. He presented his diplomatic credentials there on June 24, 2013. On July 16, 2013, he was also appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Togo, and presented his credentials on September 26 of that year.
On June 13, 2020, Archbishop Udaigwe was appointed as Apostolic Nuncio to Sri Lanka, where he continued to serve the Church through diplomatic engagement and pastoral collaboration with the local hierarchy.
With his new appointment to Ethiopia, Archbishop Udaigwe brings over three decades of diplomatic experience to the Horn of Africa, continuing his mission of representing the Holy Father and the Catholic Church in international relations.
