Pope Leo XIV has appointed Most Rev. Tomasz Grysa, the Titular Archbishop of Rubicon, as the new Apostolic Nuncio to Uganda.
He previously served as Apostolic Nuncio to Madagascar, Seychelles and Mauritius, and as Apostolic Delegate to Comoros and La Réunion. Born on 16 October 1970 in Poznań, Poland, he was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Poznań on 25 May 1995.
In a statement issued on thursday, the Vatican said Rev. Grysa will fill the void left behind when Luigi Bianco was reassigned to South-East Europe mission by Pope Leo XIV last year as Nuncio to Slovenia and Apostolic Delegate to Kosovo.
Since Bianco’s departure, the nunciature in Uganda has been run by Rev. Fr. Georges Kwami Kouwonou in acting capacity.
Born on October 16, 1970 in Poznán (Poland) before he was ordained priest for the Archdiocese of Poznán on 25th May 1995, Rev Grysa holds a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University and is a graduate of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy.
He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See on 1 July 2001. Having served in different Pontifical Representations – Russian Federation, India, Belgium, Mexico, Brazil, UN Permanent Mission (New York), Israel and Apostolic Delegation in Jerusalem and Palestine,
He is multilingual, speaking Polish, Italian, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian.
As Nuncio, he acts as the Pope’s personal representative to the Ugandan government and the local Catholic Church.
He is known for his extensive diplomatic experience in challenging environments and is considered a seasoned diplomat within the Vatican.
The Apostolic Nunciature to Uganda is an ecclesiastical office of the Catholic Church in Uganda. It is a diplomatic post of the Holy See, whose representative is called the Apostolic Nuncio with the rank of an ambassador.
The Apostolic Nuncio serves as the Pope’s personal representative both to the Ugandan government and to the local Catholic Church. Diplomatic relations between Uganda and the Holy See were formally established in 1966, shortly after Uganda attained independence. Before the establishment of a resident mission in Kampala, Uganda fell under the Apostolic Delegation for Eastern Africa based in Nairobi. The first papal representative resident in Uganda was Archbishop Amelio Poggi, who served as Apostolic Pro-Nuncio from 1967 to 1969. Other early papal envoys included Archbishop Luigi Bellotti of Italy (1969-1975) and Belgian Archbishop Henri Lemaître (1975-981), followed by notable diplomats such as Archbishop Karl-Josef Rauber and Archbishop Luis Robles Díaz. Since the mission was elevated to full nunciature status, Uganda has hosted several distinguished Vatican representatives, including French Archbishop Christophe Pierre (1999-2007), who later became a cardinal and Apostolic Nuncio to the United States; Korean Archbishop Paul Tschang In-Nam (2007-2012); and American Archbishop Michael August Blume, SVD (2013-2018).
