Pope Leo XIV has appointed Archbishop Piero Pioppo, titular archbishop of Torcello, as the new Apostolic Nuncio to Spain. The appointment, made public today at 12:00 noon, was communicated to the Spanish Episcopal Conference by the Apostolic Nunciature.
Born in Savona (Italy) on September 29, 1960, Pioppo was ordained a priest in 1985 in the Diocese of Acqui Terme and incardinated there. He holds a doctorate in Dogmatic Theology and, since 1993, has been a member of the Diplomatic Service of the Holy See, where he has worked in the nunciatures of Korea and Chile, as well as in the Secretariat of State. He is fluent in Italian, French, English and Spanish.
In 2006 he was appointed Prelate of the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR) and, four years later, Apostolic Nuncio to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, a post to which he was ordained bishop on March 18, 2010. Since 2017 he served as Nuncio to Indonesia and, since 2018, to ASEAN.
Delay in appointment
The appointment of Bishop Piero Pioppo as apostolic nuncio to Spain was accompanied by a striking diplomatic detail: the granting of the Spanish government's approval was delayed for several months.
In diplomatic circles, this type of delay is usually interpreted as a sign of disagreement or protest towards the party presenting the candidate. Although no official explanation has been offered from Moncloa, many analysts have interpreted it as a sign of protest.
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