Pope Francis announced it in 2019, at the end of the Synod of the Amazon. The Argentinian pontiff wanted fewer offices and more pastoral work on the ground for future nuncios.
POPE FRANCIS
That in the Diplomatic Service of the Holy See, in the curriculum of the Diplomatic Service, young priests spend at least one year in mission territory. But not doing an internship. Not doing an internship in the nunciatures, as is usually done—and is very useful—but simply serving a bishop in a missionary area.
These were not just words. Months later, in February 2020, he put the message into writing, in a letter to the president of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy.
It was a measure that came into force in the 2020–2021 academic year and remains in effect to this day. Since then, the future diplomats have spent a year on mission throughout various parts of the world.
For instance, 14 young men who just completed that missionary service this academic year, met with Pope Leo XIV. They had lived in countries like Rwanda, Tanzania, Paraguay, El Salvador, and the Philippines.
With that year outside Rome, they have now completed their initial formation. The next step will come on July 2, when Cardinal Parolin will assign them to their next postings, where they will officially serve as diplomats.
They will spend three years at a nunciature. In the place assigned to them, their role will be of secretary in the embassies of the Holy See around the world.
CA
Trans. CRT
