Holy See Delegate to the UN Appointed

VATICAN CITY, July 19, 2010, 11:30 Hrs (Zenit):

Pope Benedict XVI named Archbishop Francis Assisi Chullikatt, apostolic nuncio to Iraq and Jordan, as permanent observer of the Holy See at the United Nations in New York.

Archbishop Chullikatt, 57, succeeds Archbishop Celestino Migliore, who was appointed apostolic nuncio to Poland on June 30.

Francis Assisi Chullikatt was born in Bolghatty, India, and ordained a priest in 1978 for the Diocese of Verapoly.

In 1988 he began working as a Vatican representative, serving in the Honduras, various countries of southern Africa, and the Philippines.

Father Chullikatt served as counselor at the Holy See's mission to the United Nations in New York from 2000 to 2004.

In 2006 he was named nuncio to Iraq and Jordan. He was ordained a bishop that same year.