Pope Francis has appointed Rev. Msgr. Arnaldo Sanchez Catalan as the new Apostolic Nuncio to Rwanda, the Archdiocese of Manila said on Monday.
Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula said the Pope announced Catalan’s appointment on January 31.
In a statement, Advincula expressed gratitude to the Holy Father “for this gift and honor and considers the appointment of Archbishop-elect Catalan as historic being the first priest of the Archdiocese of Manila to become a Nuncio.”
He also greeted the new archbishop in the name of the clergy, religious men and women, and the laity of the Archdiocese.
Advincula also assured archbishop-elect of their support and prayers as he takes on this new mission in Rwanda.
The 55-year-old Catalan has been serving as the Chargé ‘affaires of the Apostolic Nunciature in China since 2019.
He has worked in the Diplomatic Service of the Holy See for the past 20 years. His previous assignments were in the Apostolic Nunciatures in Zambia, India, Kuwait, Turkey, Argentina, Canada, and the Philippines.
The newly elected archbishop was ordained to the priesthood on March 25, 1994.
The archdiocese said the details of Catalan’s episcopal ordination are yet to be announced.
It was an historic appointment as Catalan will become the first priest of the Archdiocese of Manila to become a papal nuncio.
Catalan will be ordained as titular archbishop of Apollonia. The details of his episcopal ordination are yet to be announced.
Aside from acting as the pope’s ambassador, the apostolic nuncio also plays a huge role in the appointment of bishops in the country where he is serving.]
The apostolic nuncio is part of the long process of the selection of the new bishops and archbishops along with the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops before it is ultimately decided by the pope.
Nearly half of Rwanda’s population are Catholics.
During Pope Francis’s visit to Rwanda in 2017, he apologized for the failures of the Catholic Church during the 1994 Rwanda genocide. Nearly 1 million people died, most of them from the Tutsi ethnic group, during a civil war in 1994.
In 2020, Kigali Archbishop Antoine Kambanda became the first Rwandan to become a cardinal when Pope Francis elevated him to the Sacred College of Cardinals.
Kambanda and Advincula were both created a cardinal during the same consistory.