Vatican City: In a solemn and deeply symbolic ceremony at Saint Peter’s Basilica, Pope Leo XIV on Sunday evening ordained Monsignor Mirosław Stanisław Wachowski as Archbishop and Apostolic Nuncio to Iraq, urging him to nurture “hope and peaceful coexistence” in a nation that has long endured pain yet remains steadfast in faith.
Presiding over the episcopal ordination Mass, Pope Leo XIV described the mission of the new nuncio as one of “accompaniment, service, and bridge-building,” reminding him that Vatican diplomacy “is born of the Gospel and nourished by prayer.” He emphasized that Iraq “a land marked by suffering and by the desire for rebirth” continues to bear living witness to a Christianity that violence has failed to extinguish.
Reflecting on Archbishop Wachowski’s episcopal motto, “Gloria Deo Pax Hominibus” (“Glory to God, Peace to Men”), Pope Leo XIV called it “a program for life,” explaining that true peace flows from glorifying God. He underscored humility as the essential virtue of a bishop, drawing from the Gospel reading of the humble tax collector who acknowledges his sins.
“A pastor,” the Pope said, “is a servant, not a master a guardian, not an owner; a man of prayer, not possession.”
Linking the Archbishop’s rural Polish roots to his new pastoral mission, the Pope compared the role of a bishop to that of a farmer: “to sow with patience, cultivate with respect, and wait with hope.” Such patient cultivation, he said, mirrors the delicate task of nurturing faith and reconciliation in communities still scarred by war and displacement.
The Pope recalled Archbishop Wachowski’s long years in the Vatican diplomatic service in Senegal, Poland, Vienna, and within the Secretariat of State praising his discretion, faithfulness, and quiet dedication. Now, the Pope said, “your diplomatic gift must become pastoral fatherhood a witness of hope in a wounded land.”
He reminded the new nuncio that a papal representative “does not defend interests but serves communion,” and must embody a Church that “accompanies, consoles, and builds bridges.”
In the complex mosaic of Iraq’s ancient Christian heritage Chaldean, Syriac, Armenian, Greek, and Latin rites the nuncio’s mission, the Pope stressed, is to “promote unity in charity” and to work constructively with other religions to strengthen peaceful coexistence.
Pope Leo XIV evoked the apostolic legacy of St. Thomas and his disciples Addai and Mari, whose faith took root in Mesopotamia centuries ago. Even amid the brutal persecutions and violence of recent decades, the Pope said, “their faith was not extinguished it became a light that still burns.” He reminded Archbishop Wachowski that “the martyrs of Iraq pray for you, for Iraq, and for the peace of the world.”
“In Iraq,” Pope Leo XIV concluded, “the people will recognize you not by what you say, but by how you love.” Entrusting his mission to Mary, Queen of Peace, and to the Saints of Mesopotamia, the Pope expressed confidence that the new nuncio will bring healing and fraternity to the war-weary nation.
Born in Pisz, Poland, in 1970, Archbishop Mirosław Stanisław Wachowski was ordained a priest in 1996. He joined the Vatican diplomatic service in 2004, serving in several nunciatures and later as Undersecretary for Relations with States from 2019. Fluent in five languages, he now assumes his new mission as the Holy See’s representative to Iraq, carrying the Pope’s call to be a messenger of peace, humility, and hope in one of the world’s most fragile regions.