Nuncio steps down less than year after appointment
February 23, 2026
Pope Leo XIV accepted the resignation of Archbishop Jean-Marie Speich, 70, from the office of apostolic nuncio to the Netherlands, ten months after Pope Francis appointed him to the post.
Archbishop Speich began his diplomatic mission in the Netherlands last summer. Although the Regulations for Pontifical Representations permit nuncios to retire at the age of 70, it is highly unusual for a nuncio to do so after serving for so short a tenure. The Dutch newspaper Nederlands Dagblad reported that the reasons for Archbishop Speich’s resignation are “shrouded in mystery.”
Pope Francis named Speich an archbishop in 2013 and was the principal consecrator at Speich’s episcopal ordination Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. Archbishop Speich subsequently served as apostolic nuncio to Ghana (2013-2019) and Slovenia (2019-2025) before Pope Franics, nine days before his passing, appointed him apostolic nuncio to the Netherlands.
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