This morning, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father Francis received in audience the ambassadors of Kuwait, New Zealand, Malawi, Guinea, Sweden and Chad to the Holy See, on the occasion of the presentation of their credential letters.
The following is the Pope’s address to the new ambassadors, and brief biographies of each one:
Address of the Holy Father
Your Excellencies,
I am pleased to receive you for the presentation of the Letters by which you are accredited as Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of your countries to the Holy See: Kuwait, New Zealand, Malawi, Guinea, Sweden and Chad. I would ask you kindly to convey my sentiments of esteem to your respective Heads of State, together with the assurance of my prayers for them and for your fellow citizens.
You are undertaking your mission at a particularly troubled time, marked by major outbreaks of armed conflict in what I have long called a third world war fought piecemeal. Given the global dimensions of the conflicts in course, the international community is challenged, through the peaceful means of diplomacy, to seek global solutions to the grave injustices that so often are the cause of those conflicts.
In recent Apostolic Exhortation Laudate Deum, I observed that meeting this challenge urgently demands a reconfiguration of multilateral diplomacy, with the aim of providing effective responses to emerging problems and devising global mechanisms to address the environmental, public health, cultural and social changes presently in course (Nos. 37-43). The noble and patient work of diplomacy to which you are committed must not only seek to prevent and resolve conflicts, but also to consolidate the peaceful coexistence and human flourishing of the world’s peoples by fostering respect for human dignity, defending the inalienable rights of each man, woman and child, and promoting models of integral economic and human development.
In this regard, the Holy See is particularly concerned for the future of our common home and specifically the effects of climate change and the devastation of the natural environment on the most vulnerable members of our human family. May the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, COP28, meeting in these days in Dubai, which I intended to participate, represent an historic step forward in responding with wisdom and foresight to these clear and present threats to the universal common good. As I stated in my Address to the Conference, «time is short. […] the future of us all depends on the present that we now choose». Let us pray that the leaders of nations will join in adopting concrete measures that will enable us to hand on to future generations a world which more fully resembles the fruitful garden that its Creator entrusted to our care and stewardship.
Dear Ambassadors, the presence and activity of the Holy See within the international community is inspired by the desire to advance human fraternity and that peace which, as the prophet Isaiah announces, is “the fruit of justice” (cf. Is 32:17). As you now take up your mission, I offer you my prayerful good wishes for your efforts in the service of this high ideal, and I assure you of the constant readiness of offices of the Curia to assist you in the fulfilment of your responsibilities. Upon you and your families, your collaborators and your fellow citizens, I invoke God’s abundant blessings.
Biographies of the new ambassadors
His Excellency Mr. Yaqoub Yousef Alsanad
Ambassador of Kuwait to the Holy See
His Excellency Mr. Yaqoub Yousef Alsanad was born on 27 December 1969, and is married with four children.
He graduated in political sciences and public administration (1992) from the University of Kuwait, Department of Trade, Economics and Political Sciences.
He has held the following offices: attaché at the Office of Training and Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1992 - 1995); Embassy in Brazil (1995 - 2000); Office of Training and Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2000 - 2001); Minister's Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2001 - 2002); Embassy in Canada (2002 - 2006); Embassy in Spain (2006 - 2009); Permanent Mission to the United Nations, New York (2009 - 2010); ambassador to Kenya, to UNON, UNEP and UN-Habitat (2010 - 2014); non-resident ambassador to Burundi, Tanzania and Rwanda (2013 - 2014); ambassador to Singapore (2014 - 2022); and ambassador to Switzerland (from 2022) and to the Principality of Liechtenstein (from October 2023).
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Her Excellency Ms. Tara Deborah Morton
Ambassador of New Zealand to the Holy See
Her Excellency Ms. Tara Deborah Morton was born on 29 June 1980.
She has a BA in law, international relations, political sciences and modern languages (2005).
She is registered as a barrister and attorney at law (2008).
She studied fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York (2014).
She has held the following positions: treaty registrar, Legal Section, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2004 - 2005); consultant, Legal Section, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2005 - 2006); consultant (international criminal law, sanctions), Legal Section, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2006 - 2008); policy officer for the South Asian Unit, Asia Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2008 - 2009); second secretary, Embassy in the People's Republic of China (January - May 2009); policy officer (human rights), United Nations, Department of Human and Commonwealth Rights, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2009 - 2010); second secretary, Permanent Mission to the UN, New York (2010 - 2013); deputy chief of Mission, Embassy in Egypt (2014 - 2015); senior policy officer, (Security Council) Permanent Mission to the UN, New York (2015 - 2016); advisor, Head of the Sanctions Team, Permanent Mission to the UN, New York (2016 - 2017); Senior Policy Officer (Sanctions), Legal Section, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (January - April 2017); lead advisor, Middle East and Africa Section, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; interim Chargé d'Affaires, Embassy in Iraq (2019 and February to March 2020); unit manager, Middle East and Africa Section, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2018 - 2023); and ambassador to Spain with accreditation to Andorra, Malta and Morocco (from January 2023).
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His Excellency Mr. Joseph John Mpinganjira
Ambassador of Malawi to the Holy See
His Excellency Mr. Joseph John Mpinganjira was born on 18 November 1964, and is married with one child.
He graduated in philosophy from Saint Anthony’s Seminary in Malawi (1987) and in theology from the University of Malawi (1989). He was awarded a licentiate in canon law from the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany (2000).
He has held the following offices, among others: president of the diocesan tribunal of the archdiocese of Lilongwe (2000-2005); secretary general of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (2005-2008); delegate administrator of the Responsible Management Approaches Company (REMAP) (2011-2012); advisor in governance for the Embassy of Ireland in Lilongwe (2012-2016); member of the Board of Directors of the WeltHungerHilfe Foundation, Malawi (2016-2020); and ambassador of Malawi in Germany (since 2021).
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His Excellency Mr. Aliou Barry
Ambassador of Guinea to the Holy See
His Excellency Mr. Aliou Barry was born on 10 May 1977 in Tougué, Guinea, and is married with two children.
He holds a D.E.S. Diploma in international development cooperation (2006) and a D.E.A. in ergonomics from the Université Libre de Bruxelles.
He has held the following offices: Peace and Security Expert at the Permanent Representation of the African Union to the European Institutions in Brussels (2007 - 2009); Peace and Security Expert Adviser, Commission of the European Union and the African Union (2010 - 2012); Civil Affairs Officer and Special Adviser, at the United Nations Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Congo (MONUSCO) (2013 - 2016); head of the Political Mediation Division, at the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) (2016 - 2018); head of Political Affairs and senior political adviser at the African Union Mission for Mali and the Sahel, African Union Commission (MISAHEL) (2018 - 2023); and ambassador to Germany (since 16 May 2023).
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His Excellency Mr. Per Holmström
Ambassador of Sweden to the Holy See
His Excellency Mr. Per Holmström was born on 11 February 1961 in Stockholm, and is married with two children.
He graduated in political sciences and law from the University of Stockholm.
He has held the following offices: minute taker, Legal Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1990-1992); consul in Jerusalem (1992 - 1995); first secretary, Embassy in France (1995 - 1999); deputy director, Africa Department, head of the Central and West Africa Group, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1999 -2024); director, deputy head of Planning and Budget Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2004 - 2006); minister, deputy head of Mission, Embassy in France (2006 - 2011); deputy director-general, head of the Department for Consular Affairs and Civil Law, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2011 - 2015); ambassador to the Netherlands and Permanent Representative to the OPCW; and deputy director-general, head of the Department for International Cooperation and Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2018 - 2023).
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His Excellency Mr. Ahmad Makaila
Ambassador of Chad to the Holy See
His Excellency Mr. Ahmad Makaila was born on 14 October 1971, and is married with two children.
He obtained a licentiate in journalism from the IFTIC, Niger, and a master’s degree in administration and management from the University of Lille, France.
He has held the following positions, among others: member of the Consultative Group in the Human Rights Council; chairman of the African Ambassadors Group, coordinator of the LDC Group at the WTO, as well as chairman of the Group of Francophone Ambassadors in Geneva (2019 - 2022); communications adviser to the President of the Republic (2002 - 2004); editorialist for Radio France Internationale (RFI), consultant for FAO and Coordinator of the Projet d'Appui au Renforcement des Capacités de la Société Civile (PARCOSCIT) (2005 - 2010); director of the Chadian News Agency and, later, deputy director of the Office National de Radio et Télévision du Tchad (ONRTV) (2010 - 2016); spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and spokesperson for the United Nations Mission for the Stabilization of Mali (MINUSMA) (2017); ambassador to Switzerland and permanent pepresentative to the United Nations Office in Geneva, to the WTO and other Swiss-based Organizations (2018 - 2023); and ambassador to France (since 31 January 2023).
