Franco Coppola

Who is Franco Coppola?

Franco Coppola is the current Apostolic Nuncio to Burundi since his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI on 16 July 2009.

Coppola was born in Maglie in 1957. He was ordained priest on 12 September 1981. He was incardinted in the diocese of Otranto. He attended the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy where he earned a doctorate in canon law. He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See on 1 July 1993, he served at the pontifical representations in Lebanon, Colombia, Poland and at the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State. He served with the rank of Counsellor at the Nunciature in Burundi.

He was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Burundi and Titular Archbishop of Vinda. He was ordained to the episcopate by Pope Benedict XVI with Cardinals Tarcisio Bertone and William Levada as co-consecrators on 12 September 2009, the twenty-eighth anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood, along with Gabriele Giordano Caccia, Giorgio Corbellini and Pietro Parolin.

He speaks French, Spanish and English.