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Pope Leo XIV on Saturday announced the appointment of a new Vatican ambassador, the Apostolic Nuncio, to the US to help manage strained relations with the Trump administration.
Italian Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, 68, a Vatican veteran who is currently the United Nations ambassador, has served as ambassador to the Philippines and Lebanon.
Caccia replaces 80-year-old Cardinal Christophe Pierre, who is retiring.
“I receive this job with joy and trepidation,” Caccia said after being appointed, according to Vatican News. He added that his work is “in the service of fellowship and peace,” remembering that 2026 marks America’s 250th anniversary.
Pope Leo XIV on Saturday announced the appointment of a new Vatican ambassador, the Apostolic Nuncio, to the US to help manage strained relations with the Trump administration. (Photos by Christopher Furlong/Getty; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The Pope and President Donald Trump have been at odds over key White House issues, including immigration and the war on Iran.
Pierre’s diplomacy has at times clashed with the more conservative US Conference of Catholic Bishops while representing Pope Francis’ priorities.
“Stability and peace are not built by threatening each other, or by weapons, which sow destruction, pain, and death, but only through reasonable, authentic and responsible dialogue,” the American-born Pope said Sunday after the US and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran, according to the Chicago Catholic Center.
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“As I am faced with the possibility of a major disaster, I am speaking to the relevant agencies and I urge them from the bottom of my heart to take responsibility to stop the spread of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” he added.
In early January, Leo also delivered a major policy speech, mostly in English, that came on the heels of US military action in Venezuela.
Archbishop Gabriele Caccia has been appointed by the pope as the new Vatican ambassador to the US (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
“War is back and warmongering is spreading,” the Pope warned in the speech.
Trump called it “a great honor for our country” when Leo was elected pope last May after the death of Pope Francis, and when asked about Leo’s comments earlier this year that appeared to pressure him on policy, Trump told Politico that he had not seen the statements from the pope, but “I’m sure he’s a lovely man.”
He also said that he had met the pope’s brother whom he called a serious MAGA.
Last fall, the pope suggested that supporting “mistreatment of immigrants in the United States” is not “healthy,” leaving White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt to “deny that there was any mistreatment of illegal immigrants in the United States under this administration.”
The pope and the Trump administration have been at odds over immigration and the actions of the US military. (Rocco Spaziani/Archivio Rocco Spaziani/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)
Leavitt, who is Catholic, added that the administration always tries to be as humane as possible while enforcing the rules.
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Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, the current president of the American conference, after Caccia’s appointment said: “On behalf of our brother bishops, I wish to convey our warm welcome and our prayerful support to him as he fulfills his responsibilities throughout the United States.”
Trump won 59% of the Catholic vote in the 2024 election, according to Politico.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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