By Joshua McElwee
VATICAN CITY, March 7 (Reuters) - Pope Leo on Saturday named a senior Church diplomat who represented the Vatican in the Philippines during former President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs as the Vatican's U.S. ambassador and envoy to the Trump administration.
Italian Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, 68, served for two years in Manila before becoming the Vatican's U.N. ambassador in 2020.
His appointment follows Vatican criticism of U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, with the Vatican's top diplomat, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, saying on Wednesday that the military campaign had undermined international law.
Leo, the first U.S. pope, has also openly criticised some of Trump's right-wing policies. He has described Trump's immigration crackdown, which has convulsed cities across the United States, as "inhuman."
Caccia, widely seen as one of the more experienced diplomats in the Vatican's foreign service, will arrive in Washington as some U.S. bishops have ramped up criticism of Trump.
He will replace Cardinal Christophe Pierre, 80, who is retiring and had been the Vatican's U.S. ambassador since 2016.
Three top U.S. cardinals in January decried the direction of American foreign policy, saying the country's "moral role in confronting evil around the world" was in question.
CACCIA TAMPED DOWN TENSIONS WHILE IN MANILA
In Manila, Caccia was known for tamping down tensions between local Catholic bishops and Duterte, who frequently attacked Church officials in speeches.
Duterte, who left office in 2022, is being held in The Hague over murders committed during his war on drugs.
The Vatican, which maintains about 110 embassies worldwide, considers Washington one of its most important diplomatic postings.
The ambassador must represent the Church's priorities at the White House, and envoys over the decades have contested policies of various U.S. administrations.
The Vatican's U.S. ambassador also plays a sweeping role inside the national Church. He is responsible for recommending to the pope U.S. priests who could serve as bishops, shaping the lives of the country's 72 million Catholics.
Caccia, originally from Milan, has previously served as the Vatican's ambassador to Lebanon and spent seven years as the number-three official in the Vatican's powerful Secretariat of State.
The Vatican and the U.S. formally established diplomatic relations in 1984 under President Ronald Reagan. None of the previous six Vatican ambassadors in Washington had served first at the United Nations.
(Editing by Timothy Heritage)
