Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations

Diplomatic mission of the Holy See in the UN

Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations
Seal of the Permanent Observer Mission
Incumbent Gabriele Giordano Caccia since November 19, 2019
Nominator	The Pope
Inaugural holder	Alberto Giovannetti
Formation	1964; 61 years ago (1964)

The Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations is the representative of the Holy See (Vatican) at the United Nations (UN). This diplomatic mission does not have the status of Permanent Representative because the Holy See is not a UN member. The Holy See has had observer state status since 1964, a status accorded only one other entity, the State of Palestine.

The first diplomat the Holy See sent as its Permanent Observer, Alberto Giovannetti, was a priest rather than a bishop. He had not yet risen to the rank of apostolic nuncio, the senior rank of the Vatican diplomatic corps.
The second Permanent Observer, Giovanni Cheli, was given the personal rank of nuncio and ordained a bishop in 1978 after five years representing the Holy See at the UN. Since then all those appointed to the position have been titular archbishops with the rank of nuncio.

Permanent Observers

Alberto Giovannetti (1964 – 1973)
Giovanni Cheli (25 July 1973 – 18 September 1986)
Renato Raffaele Martino (3 December 1986 – 1 October 2002)
Celestino Migliore (30 October 2002 – 17 July 2010)
Francis Assisi Chullikatt (17 July 2010 – 1 July 2014)
Bernardito Auza (1 July 2014 – 1 October 2019)
Gabriele Giordano Caccia (16 November 2019–present)

^ "Cheli Card. Giovanni". Holy See Press Office. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
"Vatican Names U.N. Observer". The New York Times. 7 April 1964. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
^ "Laird, a 'Stayer,' Denies Rumors of Quitting". The New York Times. 28 July 1973. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
"Rinunce e Nomine, 01.10.2002" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 1 October 2002. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
"Profiles of Dozen New Bishops". Zenit. 6 January 2003. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
^ "Rinunce e Nomine, 17.07.2010" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 17 July 2010. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
White, Christopher (11 March 2019). "Former UN envoy's tenure described as 'horror story' for staff". Crux. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
"Rinunce e nomine, 02.07.2014" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 2 July 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
"Resignations and Appointments, 01.10.2019" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. 1 October 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
"Rinunce e nomine, 16.11.2019" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 16 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.

v t e Foreign relations of the Holy See
Africa	Algeria Central African Republic Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Ivory Coast Mauritius
Americas	Argentina Brazil Canada Chile Cuba Mexico Nicaragua Peru United States Uruguay Venezuela
Asia	Bangladesh China Georgia India Indonesia Iran Israel Japan Jordan Kurdistan Region Lebanon Malaysia Myanmar Nepal Oman Pakistan Palestine Philippines Saudi Arabia South Korea Sri Lanka Syria Taiwan Turkey United Arab Emirates Vietnam
Europe	Albania Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia France Germany Greece Ireland Italy North Macedonia Monaco Poland Romania Russia Serbia Spain Switzerland United Kingdom
Oceania	Papua New Guinea
Former	Soviet Union Yugoslavia
Multilateral relations	African Union ASEAN Arab League Council of Europe European Union Organization of American States United Nations Observer to the UN Observer to the UN in Geneva
Related topics	Apostolic nunciature Cardinal Secretary of State Concordats Diplomatic missions: of the Holy See/to the Holy See Heads of the diplomatic missions of the Holy See Legal status of the Holy See Multilateral foreign policy of the Holy See Secretariat of State Section for Relations with States (Roman Curia)

Officials	Pope Francis Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin Cardinals List Advisers
Governance	Secretariat of State College of Cardinals Papal conclave
Government	Roman Curia Apostolic Camera Commissions For Vatican City State Councils Congregations Dicasteries
Foreign affairs (Multilateral policy)	Section for Relations with States To the Holy See Of the Holy See Heads Italy United Nations Permanent Observer in Geneva European Union Permanent Observer to the Council of Europe Apostolic nunciature Nuncio Treaties Concordats

Suburbicarian sees	Ostia Velletri-Segni Porto-Santa Rufina Frascati Palestrina Albano Sabina-Poggio Mirteto
Territorial abbeys	Montecassino Subiaco
Suffragan dioceses	Gaeta Anagni-Alatri Civita Castellana Civitavecchia-Tarquinia Frosinone-Veroli-Ferentino Latina-Terracina-Sezze-Priverno Rieti Sora-Cassino-Aquino-Pontecorvo Tivoli Viterbo

Inside
Rome

Major basilicas	St. Peter's Basilica Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran Basilica of Saint Mary Major Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls

Non- extraterritorial	Palace of the Holy Apostles Palace of San Carlo ai Catinari Collegio Bellarmino Archaeological Institute Pontifical Oriental Institute Pontifical Lombard Seminary Russian College Two Palaces of Sant'Apollinare House of Retreat for the Clergy of Saints John and Paul Nympheum of Nero

Outside
Rome

Non- extraterritorial	Basilica of the Holy House Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua

v t e Permanent representatives to the United Nations
Africa	DRC Liberia Libya Morocco Sudan South Sudan Tanzania
Americas	Argentina Barbados Canada Chile Colombia Guyana Honduras Mexico Panama Peru United States
Asia	Afghanistan Bangladesh Brunei China India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel North Korea Pakistan Philippines Sri Lanka Maldives Syria
Europe	Armenia Belgium Belarus Croatia Finland France Germany Italy Lithuania Luxembourg Moldova Poland Romania Russia Spain Sweden Turkey United Kingdom Ukraine
Oceania	Australia New Zealand
Permanent observers	Holy See Palestine Sovereign Military Order of Malta
Related articles	Current permanent representatives UN Members General Assembly Security Council President