Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Christophe Zakhia El-Kassis apostolic nuncio – the equivalent of an ambassador – to Yemen and apostolic delegate to the Arabian Peninsula, the Holy See Press Office stated on July 22, 2024. The 55-year-old multilingual Lebanese diplomat is also a nuncio to the United Arab Emirates.
Born on August 24, 1968, Christophe Zakhia El-Kassis was ordained a priest on May 21, 1994, for the Diocese of Beirut. The prelate joined the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 2000. In the course of his career, he has had the important position of being in charge of the Arab world at the Vatican’s Secretariat of State – a position for which he visited the UAE in 2012 – and has been a nunciature counselor.
He was appointed as a nuncio for the first time to Pakistan in 2018. In January 2023, he became the first resident nuncio in the United Arab Emirates. He officially occupied the apostolic nunciature inaugurated in Abu Dhabi on February 2, 2022.
His appointment as representative to the Islamic territories of Yemen and the Arabian Peninsula was expected, as these posts traditionally go hand in hand with the UAE position. He speaks Arabic, French, Italian, English, Indonesian, Spanish and German.
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