Pope Francis appoints ambassador to Armenia

PanARMENIAN.Net - Pope Francis elevated the Vatican's head of protocol, Msgr. Jose Bettencourt to the rank of archbishop and named him as an apostolic nuncio to Armenia, The National Catholic Reporter says.

In the Roman Catholic Church, a nuncio is a papal ambassador to a foreign court or government.

Bettencourt has served in the Vatican's Secretariat of State since 2002.

Born in 1962 in Velas, Azores, Portugal, as a child he moved to Ottawa, where he attended both elementary and secondary school. He graduated from the University of Ottawa before pursuing theological studies at Dominican College and St. Paul University, where he studied for the priesthood. He was ordained for the Archdiocese of Ottawa in 1993.

As the Holy See's head of protocol, Bettencourt oversees the details of tradition and decorum in the Vatican's diplomatic relations with other states, from welcoming visiting heads of state at the airport to dealings with diplomats and ambassadors accredited to the Vatican.

Also, the pope named Msgr. Alfred Xuereb, general secretary of the Secretariat for the Economy, as nuncio to South Korea and Mongolia.