Warsaw, Poland - The pope has appointed Archbishop Celestino Migliore as his new envoy to Poland, the nation's Roman Catholic leaders said.
Migliore, an Italian, succeeds Polish Archbishop Jozef Kowalczyk, who recently took over as Poland's primate, the senior leader of the church.
Poland's episcopate said on its website Wednesday that Pope Benedict XVI appointed Migliore to represent the Vatican in Poland, the homeland of the late Pope John Paul II.
The 58-year-old Migliore served as assistant to Kowalczyk in Poland from 1989-92 and recently was the Vatican's observer at the United Nations in New York.