A New Apostolic Visitator for Medjugorje Appointed
The Press Office of the Holy See announced today at noon, November 27, 2021, the news that Pope Francis had appointed Archbishop Msgr. Aldo Cavalli, titular Archbishop Vibo Valentia (Vibo Valentia – lat. Dioecesis Vibonensis), former Apostolic Nuncio to the Netherlands, as the Apostolic Visitor with a special role for the parish of Medjugorje, indefinitely and ad nutum Sanctae Sedis.
It is a continuation of the mission carried out in Medjugorje by Archbishop Henryk Hoser, S.A.C., who died on August 13, 2021 in Warsaw.
Msgr. Aldo Cavalli was born on October 18, 1946 in Lecco (Italy). He was ordained a priest of the diocese of Bergamo on March 18, 1971. After being ordained to the priesthood, he taught literature at the Seminary, during which time he completed his studies in political science at a Catholic university. He has been at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome since 1975, crowning his stay with a postgraduate degree in theology and ecclesiastical law. He served in several nunciatures as the Secretary and in the State Secretariat of the Holy See. He was ordained a bishop on August 26, 1996 in the Cathedral of Bergamo. He has been the Apostolic Nuncio to Chile, Colombia, Malta and Libya, and since March 21 2015, he has been the Nuncio to the Netherlands and the Permanent Representative of the Holy See to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
On the occasion of this appointment, the Provincial of the Franciscan Province of Herzegovina, Fr. Miljenko Šteko, said: “I express my deepest gratitude to the Holy Father Pope Francis for appointing a new Apostolic Visitator with a special role for the parish of Medjugorje, represented by Archbishop Cavalli. We see this appointment as a sign of the careful attention of the High Priest for this place of pilgrimage. We welcome the new Apostolic Visitor with a deep sense of gratitude and respect as his predecessor, the benevolent Msgr. Hoser, whose birthday is, quite significantly, on this day. May the new Apostolic Visitor in the new ministry, by which he represents the Holy Father and the Holy See in Medjugorje and in the local Church, be accompanied by the heavenly help of the Most Holy Mother of God, the Blessed Virgin Mary!”
“I am truly happy because of this news. I was wonderfully surprised by the news that Pope Francis had appointed Msgr. Aldo Cavalli as the new Apostolic Visitor with a special role for the parish of Medjugorje. We are grateful to God for Msgr. Henryk Hoser for being with us and for having done so much for Medjugorje and we believe that Msgr. Cavalli shall continue his path. We are glad for this news. Thank you, Pope Francis, for sending us Archbishop Cavalili as Apostolic Visitor with a special role for the parish of Medjugorje”, said the parish priest of Medjugorje, Fr. Marinko Šakota, after the announcement of this news.
