Mitja Leskovar

Mitja Leskovar (born 3 January 1970) is a Slovenian priest of the Catholic Church who has been named a titular archbishop and appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Iraq. He has worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See since 2001.

His Excellency Mitja Leskovar
Apostolic Prefect of Ulaanbaatar
Church	Roman Catholic Church
Diocese	Apostolic Nuncio elected to Iraq
In office	1 May 2020
Predecessor	Alberto Ortega Martín
Orders
Ordination	29 June 1995 by mgr Alojzij Šuštar
Consecration	8 August 2020 by cardinal Franc Rodé
Personal details
Born	3 January 1970 Kranj
Nationality	Slovenia
Previous post	Priest in Domžale Diplomatic
Alma mater	Pontifical Gregorian University
Coat of arms

Styles of Mitja Leskovar
Reference style	The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Monsignor
Posthumous style	none

Biography

Mitja Leskovar was born in Kranj, Slovenia, on 3 January 1970 and grew up in Kokrica. He entered the seminary in Ljubljana in 1989, where he earned a degree in theology. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Ljubljana on 29 June 1995 from archbishop Alojzij Šuštar.[1][2] After two years of pastoral work in Domžale, he continued his studies in Rome. He completed his master's degree in 1999 and earned a doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University.[1]

He joined the diplomatic service of the Holy See on 1 July 2001. His early assignments included stints in Bangladesh from 2001 to 2003, the General Affairs Section of the Secretariat of State in Rome from 2003 to 2014, Germany from 2015 to 2018, and India from 2018 to 2020.[1][2]

While working in Rome in 2012, he was tasked with reforming Vatican security procedures after Pope Benedict XVI's butler was arrested for allegedly leaking documents to an Italian journalist. This included adding enhanced security features to employee badges, new restrictions on physical access, and managing the handling of sensitive documents.[3]

On 1 May 2020, Pope Francis appointed him titular archbishop of Benevento and Apostolic Nuncio to Iraq.[2] He is one of three Slovenians active in the Vatican's diplomatic corps.[4]

The date of his consecration as bishop was unscheduled because of the COVID-19 pandemic [1] until 8 August 2020. He was consecrated by Cardinal Franc Rodé, co-consecrators the archbishop Stanislav Zore and the archbishop Jean-Marie Antoine Joseph Speich.

Honours

• 
  Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, 25 July 2019[5]

References

1. "Msgr. dr. Mitja Leskovar imenovan za nadškofa in apostolskega nuncija v Iraku". Katoliška Cerkev (in Slovenian). 1 May 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
2. "Rinunce e Nomine, 01.05.2020" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 1 May 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
3. Grenoble, Ryan (12 October 2012). "Mitja Leskovar, 'Monsignor 007,' To Introduce New Protocols For Pope's Security, Confidential Documents". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
4. Leskovar, Mitja (4 November 2018). "Med Hindujske Bogove Dodati Še Kipce Jezusa in Marijo jim ne Predstavlja Posebnih Težav" (Interview) (in Slovenian). Interviewed by Marta Jerebič. Radio Ognjisce. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
5. Linder, Walter J. [@AmbLinderIndia] (25 July 2019). "Great honour bestowing the Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the FedRepGER upon Prelat Dr. Mitja Leskovar, DepHeadMission, Holy See Apostolic Nuntiature in India and Nepal, for outstanding Services on his last posting in Berlin" (Tweet). Retrieved 2 May 2020 – via Twitter.