Pope Leo XIV has appointed Archbishop Christophe-Zakhia el-Kassis, apostolic nuncio to the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, as the Holy See’s new permanent observer to the United Nations in New York. The Holy See Press Office made the announcement July 25.
Born in Lebanon, Kassis succeeds Archbishop Gabriele G. Caccia, who was named papal nuncio to the United States March 7. Caccia had served at the Permanent Observer Mission since 2019.
Kassis is also apostolic delegate to the Arabian Peninsula. He was appointed nuncio to the United Arab Emirates 2023, and was named apostolic nuncio to Yemen and apostolic delegate to the Arabian Peninsula 2024. Prior to those assignments, he had been the nuncio to Pakistan since 2018.
Born in Beirut Aug. 24, 1968, he was ordained a priest in 1994 and incardinated in the Maronite Archeparchy of Beirut. He has doctorates in civil law and canon law and is fluent in Lebanese, Arabic, English, Spanish, French, Italian, German and Indonesian.
Kassis entered the Vatican’s diplomatic service in 2000, serving in the apostolic nunciatures in Indonesia, Sudan and Turkey, and in the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State in Rome. He was ordained an archbishop in Rome in 2019.
