Vatican's new Seoul envoy to arrive in May

Pope Francis, left, embraces Monsignor Alfred Xuereb, the new apostolic nuncio to Korea, during his Episcopal Ordination at Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Monday. / Yonhap

By Yi Whan-woo

Monsignor Alfred Xuereb, Pope Francis' pick for the new apostolic nuncio to Korea, will arrive here in May to begin his new job, according to the Vatican, Wednesday.

Formerly the Pope's first private secretary, the 59-year-old Maltese monsignor was appointed to lead the Vatican's diplomatic missions in both Korea and Mongolia on Feb. 26.

He will replace Archbishop Osvaldo Padilla, who retired in September 2017.

Monsignor Xuereb was promoted to archbishop and had his Episcopal Ordination on Monday, accordingly.

He will stop by Malta before coming to Korea.

Sources at the Vatican said that the Pope's appointment of Monsignor Xuereb is showing interest toward a thaw between Seoul and Pyongyang.

“Monsignor Xuereb is expected to encourage the warming relations between the two Koreas and play an active role in peace initiatives in the region,” a source said.

Monsignor Marco Sprizzi, who has been serving as the Vatican's acting envoy to Korea since September 2017, said Monsignor Xuereb is “one of the closest allies of Pope Francis and reads the Pope's thinking very well.”

“Since the Pope continually shows his concern for the reconciliation of the two Koreas and prays for peace on the Korean Peninsula, the new nuncio will play an active role in bridging the gap between the two Koreas and work for peace in the region,” Monsignor Sprizzi said.

Monsignor Xuereb began his service in the Vatican Secretariat of State in 1995, before working at the Pontifical Household in November 2000.

He returned to the Secretariat of State, serving as the second private secretary to Pope Benedict XVI from 2007.

After his election in 2013, Pope Francis made Monsignor Xuereb his first private secretary.

Monsignor Xuereb served as first prelate secretary of the Secretariat for the Economy from March 2014, before being named as a delegate on the Pontifical Commissions for the Vatican bank in November 2017.

Pope Francis has been following developments in the Peninsula.

He said the “Olympic truce,” under which the countries are urged to stop hostilities during the Olympics, “takes on special importance this year” in his message to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in February.

He visited Seoul in August 2014 for the 6th Asian Youth Day.

This was his third overseas trip after taking office and his first tour of Asia.