Pope Francis appointed Monsignor Mitja Leskovar as the Apostolic Nuncio to Iraq on Friday, May 1 while making him an archbishop. Msgr. Leskovar currently serves as a councillor at the Apostolic Nunciature in India.

He succeeds Archbishop Alberto Ortega Mart?n, who was appointed last year as the Apostolic Nuncio to Chile.

At the same time, Pope Francis conferred upon Msgr. Leskovar the titular See of Beneventum, elevating him to the dignity of archbishop.

Msgr. Leskovar was born on 3 January 1970 in Kranj, Slovenia. He was ordained a priest on 29 June 1995, and incardinated in the Archdiocese of Ljubljana.

He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See on 1 July 2001, and worked in the Pontifical Representation in Bangladesh, in the Section for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, and in the Pontifical Representations in Germany and India.

He holds a degree in canon law, and speaks Italian, English, German, Croatian, French, and Spanish.