Lucknow Diocese to Ordain New Vatican Ambassador Mgr Ambrose Madtha

(July 26, 2008) Vatican officials will be among several overseas guests attending the Episcopal ordination of Lucknow diocesan Father Ambrose Madtha, who was appointed Vatican Ambassador in Ivory Coast. Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, President of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, will lead the ordination ceremony on July 27 at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Lucknow. Several cardinals, bishops and archbishops in India, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Taiwan are scheduled to attend the ceremony along with thousands of Catholics. The diocese will also organize an inter-religious meet on the occasion of the visit of Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran on July 28 at the Cathedral Hall. Prominent religious leaders like Swami Agnivesh, Maulana Kalbe Sadiq, Shri R. S. Bagga, Swami Pragyananda, Swami Muktanada, Maulana Khalid Rasheed and Brahma Kumari Supriya are expected to attend it. Pope Benedict XVI two months ago appointed Fr. Ambrose as the Vatican Ambassador in Ivory Coast, a country on the west coast of Africa. Ivory Coast is a French-speaking country of about 17 million people. The newly appointed Vatican Ambassador to Ivory Coast has been a Papal diplomat for the last 18 years. Born in Belthangady in Karnataka, the 52-year old Archbishop-Elect was earlier on the staff of St. Francis College in Lucknow. Besides a post graduation and teaching degree, he also holds a doctorate in Canon Law from Rome. He joined the Vatican Diplomatic Services and spent 18 years as a Vatican Diplomat in the Vatican Embassies in Ghana, El Salvador, Georgia and Albania. In Taiwan he was head of the Vatican Mission. A multilingual person, he speaks more than 10 languages such as Italian, German, French, Spanish, Russian, Albanian and Chinese, besides English, Hindi, Konkani and Kannada.