Pope Leo appointed Archbishop Gabriele Caccia as Apostolic Nuncio to the United States on Saturday, March 7, 2026. Since 2019, he has been serving as Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York. He succeeds Cardinal Christophe Pierre, who had turned 80 years old on January 30. The Pope accepted his resignation upon reaching the age limit.
Archbishop Caccia said he was “honored and deeply humbled by the decision of the Holy Father” to appoint him as nuncio “to the Country and the Church” where the Pope was born and raised.
“I receive this mission with both joy and a sense of trepidation,” he underlined, while highlighting that this is a “mission at the service of communion and peace” and that it begins in the year in which the United States celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding.
Archbishop Caccia also said he feels “encouraged by the warmth and openness” he has received from the local Church, the people, and the institutions of the U.S., which he has come to know during his years of service at the United Nations in New York.
Archbishop Caccia was born in Milan on February 24, 1958. Ordained a priest in 1983 by Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, he served at the parish of San Giovanni Bosco in Milan until 1986. He was then sent to the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome, where he obtained a Doctorate in Theology and a Licentiate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Gregorian University.
He joined the Diplomatic Service of the Holy See in 1991 and was assigned to the Papal Representation in Tanzania. In 1993, he was called to serve in the Section for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, in the Secretariat of the Substitute. In 2002, he was appointed Assessor for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State.
In July 2009, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Lebanon and Archbishop-Titular Bishop of Sepino. He received episcopal ordination from the Pope himself on September 12 of that year.
In 2017, Pope Francis nominated him Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines and then in 2019 as Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations.