Apostolic Nunciature to Nicaragua explained

The Apostolic Nunciature to Nicaragua is an ecclesiastical office of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua. It is a diplomatic post of the Holy See, whose representative is called the Apostolic Nuncio with the rank of an ambassador. The nuncio resides in Managua.

The Holy See used a delegate—a member of its diplomatic corps not granted official status by their host country—to represent its interests to church officials, civil society, and the government until it appointed its first Apostolic Nuncio to Nicaragua in 1933. For fifty years the Nuncio held a second appointment as nuncio, usually to Honduras; since April 1986 the Nuncio to Nicaragua has held only that position.

In 2021, as relations between the Church and the government of Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega deteriorated, the government abolished the title "dean of the diplomatic corps", traditionally held by the representative of the Holy See. In March 2022, it withdrew its acceptance of the apostolic nuncio, Waldemar Stanisław Sommertag, ending his term as nuncio and forcing him to leave the country. The nunciature remains open.

List of papal representatives to Nicaragua

Apostolic Delegates and Internuncios

• Giovanni Cagliero, S.D.B. (26 December 1908^[1] – 6 December 1915)^[2]
• Giovanni Battista Marenco S.D.B. (2 February 1917^[3] – 22 October 1921)^[4]
• Angelo Rotta (16 October 1922^[5] – 9 May 1925)
• Giuseppe Fietta (27 February 1926 – 23 September 1930)
• Carlo Chiarlo (28 January 1932 – 30 September 1933)

Apostolic Nuncios

• Carlo Chiarlo (30 September 1933 – 1940)
• Luigi Centoz (3 December 1941^[6] – 4 October 1948)
• Liberato Tosti (4 October 1948^[7] – 1949)
• Antonio Taffi (9 January 1950^[8] – 1958)
• Sante Portalupi (29 January 1959^[9] – 27 September 1967)
• Lorenzo Antonetti (24 February 1968^[10] – 29 June 1973)
• Gabriel Montalvo Higuera (14 June 1974 – 18 March 1980)
• Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo (25 October 1980^[11] – 4 April 1986)^[12]
• Paolo Giglio (4 April 1986^[12] – 25 March 1995)^[13]
• Luigi Travaglino (2 May 1995^[14] – 30 October 2001)^[15]
• Jean-Paul Gobel (31 October 2001^[16] – 10 October 2007)^[17]
• Henryk Józef Nowacki (28 November 2007^[18] – 28 June 2012)^[19]
• Fortunatus Nwachukwu (12 November 2012^[20] – 4 November 2017)^[21]
• Waldemar Stanisław Sommertag (15 February 2018^[22] – 6 March 2022)^{[23] [24]}

Notes and References

1. Book: De Marchi, Giuseppe . 11 July 2020 . it . Le Nunziature Apostoliche dal 1800 al 1956 . 179. 1957 . Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
2. News: New York Times . 14 July 2020 . To Name Six Cardinals . 4 November 1915 .
3. Book: Acta Apostolicae Sedis . 5 June 2020 . 1917 . IX . 158 . Internuncio Apostolico di Costarica, Nicaragua e Honduras.
4. Book: Acta Apostolicae Sedis . 5 June 2020 . 1921 . XIII . 520 . Internunzio Apostolico per Costa Rica, Nicaragua e Honduras.
5. Book: Acta Apostolicae Sedis . 551, 563. 1922 . XIV . 14 July 2020 . Internunzio Apostolico nell'America Centrale .
6. Book: 25 November 2019 . Acta Apostolicae Sedis . 520 . 1941 . XXXIII.
7. Book: 25 November 2019 . Acta Apostolicae Sedis . 299 . 1949 . XLI .
8. News: 19 December 2019 . 13 March 1950 . Transferred to Apostolic Delegation in Washington . Catholic News Archive . Archbishop Antonio Taffi, Apostolic Nuncio recently transferred from Cuba, has left Havana and is expected to arrive soon to present his credentials in Nicaragua and Honduras.
9. Book: 20 November 2019 . Acta Apostolicae Sedis . 116. 1959 . LI .
10. Book: 225 . Acta Apostolicae Sedis . 1968 . LX .
11. Book: Acta Apostolicae Sedis . 1069 . 1980 . LXXII . 19 December 2019.
12. Book: 460, 480 . Acta Apostolicae Sedis . 1986 . LXXVIII . 19 December 2019 .
13. Book: 397 . Acta Apostolicae Sedis . 1995 . LXXXVII . 19 December 2019 .
14. Book: Acta Apostolicae Sedis . 599 . 1995. LXXXVII . 7 December 2019 .
15. Rinunce e Nomine, 05.01.2011 . it . 12 July 2019 . 5 January 2011 . .
16. Rinunce e Nomine, 31.10.2001. . it . 28 May 2019 . 31 October 2001 .
17. Rinunce e Nomine, 10.10.2007. . it . 28 May 2019 . 10 October 2007 .
18. it . 30 May 2019 . Rinunce e Nomine, 28.11.2007. 28 November 2007 . Holy See Press Office .
19. it . 30 May 2019 . Rinunce e Nomine, 28.06.2012. 28 June 2012. Holy See Press Office.
20. Rinunce e Nomine, 12.11.2012 . Holy See Press Office. 6 January 2013. it.
21. 11 June 2019 . 4 November 2017 . Holy See Press Office . Resignations and Appointments, 04.11.2017 .
22. Resignations and Appointments, 15.02.2018 . . 15 February 2018 . 8 June 2019.
23. News: es . Nuncio Apostólico Waldemar Sommertag se ausenta de Nicaragua, en medio de rumor de supuesta expulsión . March 7, 2022 . 100% Noticias . 13 March 2022 .
24. News: Crux . 12 March 2022 . Vatican calls expulsion of envoy in Nicaragua ‘incomprehensible’ . Inés . San Martín .