Pope Francis has appointed his Excellency Archbishop-elect Monsignor Jean Marie Speich as his Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana.

Monsignor Speich replaces Archbishop Leon Badikebele Kalenga, who after having served for five years in Ghana, has been posted to EL Salvador.

A statement signed by Reverend Cosma Ambrosini, the Charge d’Affairs of the Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said the new Nuncio was born on 15th June 1955 at Strasbourg, France.

The statement said Monsignor Speich, who will be the eighth Nuncio to Ghana, was ordained a priest on 9th October 1982, and holds a doctorate degree in Canon Law.

It said the new Nuncio entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1986 and has since served in Embassies of the Holy See in Haiti, Nigeria, Bolivia, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, Egypt, Spain and Cuba.

From March 2008 until his appointment as Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana, he was assigned at the Secretariat of State in Rome as Head Officer of the French Section.

Monsignor Speich speaks French, Italian, English, German, and Spanish.