Pope Names Lebanese Archbishop to UN

By Diana L. Banister | 2026

UNITED NATIONS, July 31, (C-Fam) – Pope Leo XIV has named Lebanese-born Maronite Catholic Archbishop Christophe-Zakhia El-Kassis as the Holy See’s new Permanent Observer to the United Nations. Abp. El-Kassis will succeed Italian Archbishop Gabriele G. Caccia, who served at the U.N. since 2019 and was recently named papal nuncio to the United States.

As a permanent observer at the United Nations, the nuncio is a Vatican representative with the rank of ambassador, although with non-member status. Alongside 193 Permanent Member States, the Holy See has “the right to participate in the general debate of the General Assembly, the right to make interventions and the right of reply.” However, a Permanent Observer State is not allowed to initiate resolutions, vote, or put forward candidates for various UN-related posts.

A native of Beirut, Abp. El-Kassis was ordained as a priest in 1994 within the Eastern Rite Catholic Church that is in full communion with the Pope and the Western Church. He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 2000, and after serving in Indonesia, Sudan, Turkey, and the Vatican as Secretariat of State, received his first mission as apostolic nuncio to Pakistan in 2018 at the age of 50. He was named Archbishop that same year. Abp. El-Kassis holds a doctorate in Civil and Canon Law and is fluent in eight languages: Lebanese, Arabic, French, Italian, English, Indonesian, Spanish, and German.

In 2023, Pope Francis named Abp. El-Kassis the first-ever nuncio to the United Arab Emirates. The next year, he took on responsibilities for Yemen and became apostolic delegate for the Arabian Peninsula that includes Saudi Arabia and other predominantly Muslim countries.

In an interview with Saudi news outlet Al Arabiya after the appointment to the UAE, Abp. El-Kassis discussed the significance of Pope Francis’ appointment of a resident ambassador to the Muslim country saying it marked “a deepening of ties with the GCC countries and a continued commitment to fostering interfaith dialogue.”

The appointment was made to mark the anniversary of Pope Francis’ 2019 visit to the Arabian peninsula at the invitation of Sheikh Ahmad el-Tayeb, grand imam of al-Azhar in Egypt. At that visit the Pope signed a document on promoting dialogue and “human fraternity.”

Abp. El-Kassis reiterated the significance of the nunciature to the UAE for opening dialogue with the Muslim world and for staying “close to our brothers in other faiths.”

Like his predecessor, Pope Leo XIV has encouraged dialogue and understanding of the Muslim faith. He has traveled to the Blue Mosque in Istanbul (late 2025) and the Great Mosque of Algiers (April 2026).

Abp. El-Kassis is the eighth Ambassador from the Holy See and the first to come from the Middle East. The Holy See became a permanent observer state at the United Nations on April 6, 1964, and all previous Ambassadors were Italian with the exception of Filipino Archbishop Bernardito Cleopas Auza, who served from 2014 to 2019.

The territory of Palestine is the only other entity that has permanent observer status at the international body. Current debates over the U.S. policy in the Middle East, its relationship with Israel and the war in Iran will continue at the UN as Abp. El-Kassis takes his place in the international body.

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