Six new Ambassadors accredited to the Holy See

Kuwait, New Zealand, Malawi, Guinea, Sweden and Chad. The new Ambassadors of these six countries met with Pope Francis in the Clementine Hall on Thursday morning, 7 December, to present their Letters of Credence accrediting them to the Holy See. The following is a summary of the biographies of the new Ambassadors.

Kuwait

H.E. Mr Yaqoub Yousef Alsanad, new Ambassador of Kuwait to the Holy See, was born on 27 December 1969. He is married with four children. He graduated in political science and public administration (1992) from the University of Kuwait, Department of Trade, Economics and Political Science. He has held the following offices: Attaché at the Office of Training and Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1992-1995); Embassy in Brazil (1995-2000); Office of Training and Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2000-2001); Minister’s Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2001-2002); Embassy in Canada (2002-2006); Embassy in Spain (2006-2009); Permanent Mission to the United Nations, New York (2009-2010); Ambassador to Kenya, to unon , unep and un-habitat (2010-2014); non-resident Ambassador to Burundi, Tanzania and Rwanda (2013-2014); Ambassador to Singapore (2014-2022); and Ambassador to Switzerland (from 2022) and to the Principality of Liechtenstein (from October 2023).

New Zealand

H.E. Ms Tara Deborah Morton, new Ambassador of New Zealand to the Holy See, was born on 29 June 1980. She has a BA in law, international relations, political science and modern languages (2005). She is a registered barrister and attorney at law (2008). She studied fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York (2014). She has held the following positions: Treaty Registrar, Legal Section, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2004-2005); Consultant, Legal Section, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2005-2006); Consultant (international criminal law, sanctions), Legal Section, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2006-2008); Policy Officer for the South Asian Unit, Asia Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2008-2009); Second Secretary, Embassy in the People’s Republic of China (January-May 2009); Policy Officer (human rights), United Nations, Department of Human and Commonwealth Rights, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2009-2010); Second Secretary, Permanent Mission to the UN, New York (2010-2013); Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy in Egypt (2014-2015); Senior Policy Officer, (Security Council) Permanent Mission to the UN, New York (2015-2016); Advisor, Head of the Sanctions Team, Permanent Mission to the UN, New York (2016-2017); Senior Policy Officer (Sanctions), Legal Section, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (January-April 2017); Lead Advisor, Middle East and Africa Section, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; interim Chargé d’Affaires, Embassy in Iraq (2019 and February to March 2020); Unit Manager, Middle East and Africa Section, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2018-2023); and Ambassador to Spain with accreditation to Andorra, Malta and Morocco (from January 2023).

Malawi

H.E. Mr Joseph John Mpinganjira, new Ambassador of Malawi to the Holy See, was born on 18 November 1964, and is married with one child. He graduated in philosophy from Saint Anthony’s Seminary in Malawi (1987) and in theology from the University of Malawi (1989). He was awarded a licentiate in canon law from the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany (2000). He has held the following offices, among others: President of the diocesan tribunal of the Archdiocese of Lilongwe (2000-2005); Secretary general of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (2005-2008); Delegate Administrator of the Responsible Management Approaches Company ( remap ) (2011-2012); Advisor in governance for the Embassy of Ireland in Lilongwe (2012-2016); Member of the Board of Directors of the WeltHungerHilfe Foundation, Malawi (2016-2020); and Ambassador of Malawi in Germany (since 2021).

Guinea

H.E. Mr Aliou Barry, new Ambassador of Guinea to the Holy See, was born on 10 May 1977 in Tougué, Guinea, and is married with two children. He holds a d.e.s. Diploma in international development cooperation (2006) and a d.e.a. in ergonomics from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (2007). He has held the following offices: Peace and Security Expert at the Permanent Representation of the African Union to the European Institutions in Brussels (2007-2009); Peace and Security Expert Advisor, Commission of the European Union and the African Union (2010-2012); Civil Affairs Officer and Special Advisor, at the United Nations Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Congo ( monusco ) (2013-2016); Head of the Political Mediation Division, at the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Mali ( minusma ) (2016-2018); Head of Political Affairs and Senior Political Advisor at the African Union Mission for Mali and the Sahel, African Union Commission ( misahel ) (2018-2023); and Ambassador to Germany (since 16 May 2023).

Sweden

H.E. Mr Per Holmström, new Ambassador of Sweden to the Holy See, was born on 11 February 1961 in Stockholm, and is married with two children. He graduated in political science and law from the University of Stockholm. He has held the following offices: minute taker, Legal Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1990-1992); Consul in Jerusalem (1992-1995); First Secretary, Embassy in France (1995-1999); Deputy Director, Africa Department, Head of the Central and West Africa Group, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1999 -2024); Director, Deputy Head of Planning and Budget Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2004-2006); Minister, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy in France (2006-2011); Deputy Director-General, head of the Department for Consular Affairs and Civil Law, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2011-2015); Ambassador to the Netherlands and Permanent Representative to the opcw ; and Deputy Director-General, Head of the Department for International Cooperation and Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2018-2023).

Chad

H.E. Mr Ahmad Makaila, new Ambassador of Chad to the Holy See, was born on 14 October 1971, and is married with two children. He obtained a licentiate in journalism from the iftic (Niger) and a master’s degree in administration and management from the University of Lille (France). He has held the following positions, among others: Member of the Consultative Group in the Human Rights Council; Chairman of the African Ambassadors Group, Coordinator of the ldc Group at the wto , as well as Chairman of the Group of Francophone Ambassadors in Geneva (2019-2022); Communications Advisor to the President of the Republic (2002-2004); editorialist for Radio France Internationale ( rfi ), Consultant for fao and Coordinator of the Projet d’Appui au Renforcement des Capacités de la Société Civile ( parcoscit ) (2005-2010); Director of the Chadian News Agency and, later, Deputy Director of the Office National de Radio et Télévision du Tchad ( onrtv ) (2010-2016); Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Spokesperson for the United Nations Mission for the Stabilization of Mali ( minusma ) (2017); Ambassador to Switzerland and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva, to the wto and other Organizations based in Switzerland (2018-2023); and Ambassador to France (since 31 January 2023).