The Holy Father, with the agreement of the respective governments, has announced that Archbishop Martin Krebs is the new Apostolic Nuncio to New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Palau, and Federated States of Micronesia in the Pacific.
Archbishop Krebs (56) was born in Essen, Germany. He was ordained priest in 1983, and after obtaining a doctorate in Canon Law entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1991.
Archbishop Krebs has wide experience, working in a number of Apostolic Nunciatures in Burundi, Japan, Austria, the Czech Republic, the European Union and the United States of America.
In September 2008 Monsignor Krebs was appointed Apostolic Nuncio in Guinea and Mali. He was ordained Archbishop in November 2008.
As well as German, Archbishop Krebs speaks English, Italian, French, Spanish and Czech.
Vatican Radio reports Archbishop Krebs was in Guinea in 2009 when, despite church appeal for calm, a demonstration against the military junta ended in a ‘bloodbath’, the military killing 128.
Speaking with Vatican Radio, Archbishop Krebs said Guinea was a small country and urged the world community not to forget the terrible violence.
The main religion in Mali and Guinea is Islam. Catholics in Guinea number 250,000, representing 3% of the population, while Mali catholics number 200,00, just 1.5% of the population.
Image: Liebfrauen Parish