Nigerian Archbishop, Jude Thaddeus Okolo appointed papal nuncio to Ireland

Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo (60) to the role of apostolic nuncio to Ireland, the first African priest to ever hold the diplomatic role in Ireland.

The news was welcomed by Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin, “I warmly welcome the appointment by his Holiness Pope Francis of Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo as Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland, and I wish him many blessings in his new role”.

The position of Apostolic Nuncio is the papacy’s diplomatic representative in Ireland. “Archbishop Okolo’s rich experience in the diplomatic service of the Holy See means that he brings many gifts to bear on his new mission in Ireland” Archbishop Martin said.

Archbishop Okolo will take up the role during the summer, and replaces the outgoing apostolic nuncio to Ireland Charles Brown, who finished his term in March and will now move to Albania to take up a new diplomatic post.

Jude Thaddeus Okolo is from Ozubulu in Ekwusiego Local Government Area of Anambra State but born in Kano in Nigeria , where he entered the priesthood in 1983. He has formerly served as an apostolic nuncio to the Central African Republic and Chad in 2008, and then as the Pope’s diplomatic representative to the Dominican Republic in 2013.

Archbishop Okolo speaks English, French, Italian, Igbo, Spanish and German. Before becoming a apostolic nuncio, Jude Thaddeus Okolo had worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See, where he was stationed in Sri Lanka , before going on to be a pontifical representative in Hati, Switzerland, the Czech Republic , Australia and the Antillean Islands.