Pope Appoints New Substitute, Nuncio to Italy & Prefect of Papal Household

Pope Leo XIV has made three new and important appointments today.

The pontiff has appointed Archbishop Paolo Rudelli, the Apostolic Nuncio to Colombia, to the office of the Substitute for General Affairs.

He also appointed Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, the former Substitute for General Affairs, and Archbishop Petar Rajič, the former Apostolic Nuncio to Italy, as Prefect of the Papal Household.

The position of Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State is best described as a kind of ‘Interior Minister’ of the Vatican City State.

Rudelli, who holds a degree in Moral Theology, has served as Apostolic Nuncio to Colombia and Zimbabwe. But his diplomatic service dates back to 2001, with assignments at the Pontifical Representations in Ecuador and Poland, under the General Affairs section of the Secretariat of State.

Describing the appointment as “a gesture of undeserved trust (from the pontiff), that deeply honours me, Rudelli said he is “moved by faith to take on this service in the spirit indicated by the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium”.

Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra was appointed Substitute for General Affairs in August 2018 following a transfer from Mozambique. Beyond his diplomatic experience in Yugoslavia, Honduras, and Mexico, he also served as Pontifical Representative in Pakistan. He succeeds Archbishop Rajič as the Apostolic Nuncio to Italy.

Finally, Archbishop Petar Rajič, now the Prefect of the Papal Household, takes over the position that has been vacant for the past six years since the departure of Archbishop Georg Gänswein, who is now the Apostolic Nuncio to the Baltic countries of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania. Rajic himself also served as Nuncio to the three countries from 2019 until his arrival in July 2024.