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Pope Francis has appointed His Excellency Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendía as Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain.

Commenting on the news, Cardinal Vincent Nichols said: 'I welcome the appointment of Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendía as Papal Nuncio to Great Britain. On behalf of our Bishops' Conference, I assure him not only of our warm welcome but also of our full cooperation when he takes up these new responsibilities.'

Born in Madrid on 19th November 1955, Archbishop Maury Buendía studied philosophy and theology at the Conciliar Seminary of Madrid before being ordained a priest for the Archdiocese on 26th June 1980.

He followed a two-year programme of studies at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome, and entered the Holy See's diplomatic service in July 1987, serving in diplomatic missions in several countries, including Rwanda, Uganda, Morocco, Nicaragua, Egypt, Slovenia and Ireland. 

In 2004, he was called to the Section for Relations with States within the Secretariat of State of the Holy See. In 2008, he was appointed titular archbishop of Italica and Apostolic Nuncio to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

Pope Francis appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Romania on 5th December 2015, and to the Republic of Moldova on 25th January 2016.

He was appointed the Apostolic Nuncio to the Court of St James's on 13th April 2023, filling a post vacant since the previous Nuncio to Great Britain, Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, was named prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches on 21st November 2022.

Photo: Pope Francis with Archbishop Maury Buendía (credit: Vatican Media)