ZAGREB, 27 Nov, 2021 - Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Aldo Cavalli as special apostolic visitator for the parish of Međugorje, the Holy See's press office and the website of the globally popular Catholic place of pilgrimage in Bosnia and Herzegovina said on Saturday.
Msgr. Cavalli was until now apostolic nuncio in the Netherlands.
The Holy See said in its brief statement that Cavalli has been appointed indefinitely.
Cavalli will continue the mission of Archbishop Henryk Hoser, who died of COVID-19 in Warsaw on 13 August.
Hoser was appointed apostolic visitator for Međugorje in 2018 to organise pilgrimages and pastoral care.
Msgr. Cavalli was born in 1946 in Lecce, Italy, and was ordained a priest in the Bergamo Diocese in 1971.
He served in several nunciatures as secretary and at the Holy See Secretariat of State.
He was apostolic nuncio in Chile, Colombia, Malta and Libya, and since 21 March 2015 he was apostolic nuncio to the Netherlands and the Holy See's permanent representative at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
The head of the Franciscan province of Herzegovina, Friar Miljenko Šteko, has welcomed the appointment of the new apostolic visitator.
The Holy See appointed the apostolic visitator for Međugorje in 2018.
The Međugorje phenomenon dates back to 1981 when six local children claimed that the Virgin Mary revealed herself to them. Some of them say that she still does.
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