He replaces the archbishop of Telde, Giampiero Gloder, who became nuncio in Romania and Moldova.
14ymedio, Havana, 20 May 2024 — Bishop Antoine Camilleri, former undersecretary of the Vatican Section for Relations with States, has been appointed by Pope Francis as the new apostolic nuncio in Cuba. He replaces the archbishop of Telde, Giampiero Gloder, who becomes nuncio in Romania and Moldova.
To date, Camilleri, a 58-year-old native of Sliena, Malta, served in the same position in Ethiopia, in addition to representing the Holy See before the African Union and as apostolic delegate in Somalia. Graduated in Jurisprudence and Canon Law, he speaks Italian, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Romanian and Russian.
The Holguín Católico portal noted that since “February the Cuban Church has been waiting for the appointment of a new papal representative.” In 2006, while at the nunciature of Cuba, he received his appointment as secretary of the Holy See and private secretary to Archbishop Dominique Mamberti.
According to the Vatican News news portal , Camilleri, who was ordained in 1991, is close to the Island for which he has served as pontifical representative, the same position he has held with New Guinea (1999-2002) and Uganda (2002- 2005). On September 3, 2019, Pope Francis appointed him titular archbishop of Skálholt and apostolic nuncio. On October 4, 2019 he received episcopal ordination.
The ‘Holguín Católico’ portal recalled that since “last February the Cuban Church was waiting for the appointment of a new papal representative”
Camilleri’s arrival comes one day after the bishop of Camagüey Wilfredo Willy Pino Estévez prohibited Father Alberto Reyes from ringing the bells of the Esmeralda parish, where he officiates, as a symbolic protest against the blackouts in that municipality.
This newspaper has denounced the constant pressures from the Office of Religious Affairs of the Communist Party of Cuba, headed by Caridad Diego, which has intensified in the last three years, since several priests spoke out against the regime after the Island-wide mass demonstrations of the 11 July 2021.
At the end of March, the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) did not authorize Holy Week processions in two parishes in Villa Clara. In those permitted – a total of 111 throughout the Island – Catholics took to the streets under the constant surveillance of the Police.
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