Pope Leo has selected Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia of the Diocese of Milan as the new apostolic nuncio to the United States. Until now, he was the Holy See's permanent observer at the United Nations in New York. Archbishop Caccia succeeds Cardinal Christophe Pierre, who resigned after attaining the age limit. Gabriele Caccia was born in Milan on February 24, 1958. Raised in Cavaria con Premezzo, in the province of Varese, he was ordained a priest in 1983 by Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini. He was a priest at the parish of San Giovanni Bosco in the heavily populated Baggio district on Milan's outskirts until 1986, and some of the young people from that time remember him as a "young and brilliant oratory priest". Caccia holds a degree in theology and a licentiate in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University. After joining the Holy See's diplomatic service in 1991, he was posted to the Pontifical Representation of Tanzania. Since then, Monsignor Caccia has occupied a number of distinguished roles. In July 2009, Benedict XVI appointed him as Apostolic Nuncio to Lebanon and Titular Archbishop of Sepino. In 2017, Pope Francis nominated him Nuncio to the Philippines, and in 2019, he became the Holy See's Permanent Observer to the United Nations. The announcement of the appointment was met with satisfaction by the American bishops. "It is with joy that I receive the news that Pope Leo XIV has appointed Archbishop Caccia as his personal representative and nuncio to the United States", Archbishop Paul Stagg Coakley, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement. "On behalf of my brother bishops, I extend to him a warm greeting and our spiritual support as he fulfills his duties in the United States, and we look forward to working with him".