The Vatican's Diplomatic Representative in New Zealand
In July, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Gábor Pintér as the new Apostolic Nuncio to Aotearoa New Zealand. A nuncio is the Pope's chief diplomatic representative in a country, the equivalent of an ambassador.
Archbishop Pintér, who also serves as Apostolic Delegate to the Pacific Ocean, succeeds Archbishop Novatus Rugambwa, who returned to Rome in March after suffering a stroke last October.
Before taking up his appointment here, Archbishop Pintér was the present Apostolic Nuncio to Honduras. He was born in Kunszentmarton, Hungary, in 1964, and ordained as a Catholic priest in June 1988. He has a PhD in Theology and a PhD in Canon Law, and speaks Hungarian, Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, and Haitian Creole.
He entered the Diplomatic Service of the Holy See in 1996 and served in Haiti, Bolivia, Sweden, France, the Philippines, and Austria, before being appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Belarus in 2016.
He was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Honduras in November 2019, coincidentally replacing Archbishop Rugambwa, who was nuncio there until his appointment to New Zealand that year.
During his time in New Zealand, Archbishop Rugambwa had overseen the appointment of bishops in five of the country's six dioceses — Bishop Lowe in Auckland, Archbishop Paul Martin SM in Wellington, Bishop Michael Gielen in Christchurch, Bishop John Adams in Palmerston North, and Bishop Richard Laurenson in Hamilton.
Some two years of Archbishop Rugambwa's time in New Zealand encompassed the period of the Covid-19 pandemic, with churches often closed by government decree as a public health measure.
We are blessed to have archbishops of such quality representing Pope Francis and the universal Church resident in our country, and we are grateful for their efforts in maintaining communion with the local church in God's farthest outpost.
His Excellency Archbishop Gábor Pintér
- Born in Kunszentmarton, Hungary, on 9 March 1964. Ordained Catholic Priest on 11 June 1988.
- Incardinated at the Diocese of Vac (Hungary).
- PhD in Theology and PhD in Canon Law.
- Entered the Diplomatic Service of the Holy See on 1 July 1996, and subsequently served in Haiti, Bolivia, Sweden, France, Philippines and Austria.
- Appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Belarus on 13 May 2016 and named Titular Bishop of Velebusdo. Appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Honduras, on 12 Nov 2019.
- Languages: Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Russian, Swedish and Hatian Creole.
