Priest from Canada named Apostolic Nuncio

Monday, February 26, 2018

On 26 February 2018, Pope Francis named Msgr. José Avelino Bettencourt, P.H., a priest of the Archdiocese of Ottawa, as Apostolic Nuncio to Georgia and Armenia. Since November 2012, Msgr. Bettencourt has been Chief of Protocol in the Secretariat of State of the Holy See. He was born in Portugal in 1962 and ordained priest in 1993. Msgr. Bettencourt entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1999, and has served in the Apostolic Nunciature to the Democratic Republic of Congo and as Counsellor in the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State. Pope Francis will preside at the episcopal ordination of Archbishop-elect Bettencourt in Saint Peter’s Basilica on 19 March 2018, the Solemnity of Saint Joseph.

As well, the Holy Father has appointed Msgr. Alfred Xuereb, P.H., as Apostolic Nuncio to South Korea and Mongolia. Archbishop-elect Xuereb worked at the Apostolic Nunciature to Canada during 1999-2000.