Media Release

New Delhi, Nov 14: The holy father, Pope Leo XIV, has appointed Archbishop Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag (58) as the new Apostolic Nuncio to India on Saturday, November 14.

Born in Wiecbork, Poland, on February 6, 1968, he was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Pelplin, Poland, on May 30, 1993. He pursued studies in diplomacy at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome and in canon law at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome, completing both in 2000.

He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See on July 1, 2000. His diplomatic assignments included service in Tanzania (2000–2003), Nicaragua (2003–2005), Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro (2005–2010), and Israel, Palestine and Cyprus (2010–2013).

From 2013 to 2018, he served at the secretariat of state, Section for Relations with States, as private secretary to the secretary for relations with States, the Holy See’s foreign minister.

On February 15, 2018, Pope Francis appointed him Titular Archbishop of Maastricht and Apostolic Nuncio to Nicaragua. He received episcopal ordination from Pope Francis in St Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, on March 19, 2018.

On September 6, 2022, he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Senegal, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania, where he served until his new appointment to India.

As Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Sommertag will serve as the diplomatic representative of the Holy See to the Republic of India and as the Pope’s representative to the Catholic Church in the country.

The CCBI welcomes Archbishop Sommertag and wishes him a fruitful ministry as he begins his new mission of fostering communion between the Holy See and the Church in India, and strengthening relations between the Holy See and the Republic of India.