New Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Charles John Brown arrived in Manila Sunday.
CBCP News said the Vatican envoy arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 on board a Philippine Airlines flight from his home city, New York, at 7:20 a.m.
Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, and Paranaque Bishop Jesse Mercado welcomed Brown at the airport together with some government officials and staff of the Apostolic Nunciature in Manila.
Pope Francis appointed Brown as Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines last September, replacing Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, who now heads the Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mission in the United Nations in New York.
Prior to his new assignment, Brown was Apostolic Nuncio to Albania since March 2017.
As papal envoy, he will represent the Vatican State in the Philippine government, while also playing a crucial role in representing the pope to the Catholic Church in the Philippines.
In many Catholic countries like the Philippines, the nuncio is also the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps.
The papal nuncio is expected to present his credentials to the Philippine government anytime soon.