He succeeds Nigerian Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, who was recently appointed to a leadership role in one of the most important dicasteries in the Roman Curia as a secretary for the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization.
Balestrero was born in Genoa, Italy, in 1966 to an American mother and an Italian father. After studying law, he entered seminary and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Rome at the age of 26.
He trained for the Holy See’s foreign service at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy and holds a doctorate in canon law.
Balestrero speaks French, Spanish, German, and Dutch, in addition to fluent English and Italian.
During his diplomatic career he has held positions in South Korea, Mongolia, the Netherlands, and Colombia, where he served as apostolic nuncio from 2013 to 2018.
The Holy See became a Permanent Observer State at the U.N. in 1964. The Holy See’s mission at the United Nations is of key importance for the Holy See’s diplomatic work. The mission aims to communicate the Catholic Church’s centuries of experience to assist the U.N. in realizing peace, justice, human dignity, and humanitarian cooperation and assistance.