Apostolic Nunciature To The United States - Apostolic Nuncio

Apostolic Nuncio

In 1990 and 1991 the Vatican quietly began to use the title of nuncio instead of pro-nuncio for its ambassadors who were not the deans of a country's ambassadorial corps, but it retained the pro-nuncio title for all those already appointed. In 1998, when President Bill Clinton accepted the credentials of Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo Higuera as the third Vatican ambassador to the United States, he held the title of Apostolic Nuncio. Since 1993 the official Vatican yearbook, the Annuario Pontificio, has included an asterisk behind the title of those nuncios "che (per ora) non sono Decani del Corpo Diplomatico" -- "who (for now) are not deans of the diplomatic corps."

1. Gabriel Montalvo Higuera, 7 December 1998 – 17 December 2005.
2. Pietro Sambi, 17 December 2005 – 27 July 2011.
3. Carlo Maria Viganò 19 October 2011 - present