His Excellency, The Most Reverend Christophe Zakhia El-Kassis
Apostolic Nuncio to United Arab Emirates Titular Archbishop of Rusellae
Appointed	3 January 2023
Predecessor	Francisco Montecillo Padilla
Other post(s)	Titular Archbishop of Rusellae
Orders
Ordination	21 May 1994 by Khalil Abi-Nader
Consecration	19 January 2019 by Pietro Parolin, Dominique Mamberti and Paul Youssef Matar
Personal details
Born	(1968-08-24) 24 August 1968 (age 55) Beirut, Lebanon
Nationality	Lebanese
Denomination	Roman Catholic Church
Previous post(s)	Apostolic Nuncio to Pakistan (2018-2023)
Motto	Scis Domine, quia amo te
Coat of arms

Styles of Christophe Zakhia El-Kassis
Reference style	His Excellency His Grace
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Archbishop

Christophe Zakhia El-Kassis (born 24 August 1968 in Beirut, Lebanon) is a Lebanese Catholic bishop, diplomat, and Maronite archbishop.^[1] He currently serves as the Apostolic Nuncio to the United Arab Emirates.

Life

El-Kassis graduated utroque iure, doctorate in both civil law and church law. He received the sacrament of Holy Orders on 21 May 1994. He joined the diplomatic service of the Holy See on 19 June 2000, and has served in the Apostolic Nunciatures in Indonesia, the Sudan and Turkey. From 2007 until 2018, he served at the Foreign Relations office of the Secretariat of State in the Holy See.

He is fluent in Lebanese, Arabic, French, Italian, English, Indonesian, Spanish, and German^[2]

On 24 November 2018 Pope Francis appointed him as Titular Archbishop of Rusellae and named him Apostolic Nuncio to Pakistan.^[3] He received his episcopal consecration in St. Peter Basilica on 19 January 2019 from Cardinal Pietro Parolin as Principal Consecrator, who was accompanied by Cardinal Dominique Mamberti and Archbishop Paul Youssef Matar.^[4]

On 3 January 2023, Pope Francis appointed him as the Apostolic Nuncio to the United Arab Emirates. He is to be the first nuncio who will be a resident in the Nunciature in Abu Dhabi which was opened in February 2022.^[5]