Pope Francis appoints new permanent observer to the UN in Geneva

Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Ettore Balestrero as the Holy See’s permanent observer to the United Nations in Geneva.

The 56-year-old Vatican diplomat most recently served as the apostolic nuncio to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he has been based since 2018.

Balestrero was also the Vatican undersecretary for Relations with States from 2009 to 2013 under Secretary Dominique Mamberti. In this role, he was the Vatican’s representative to Moneyval, the Council of Europe’s anti-money-laundering watchdog.