Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Giorgio Lingua new Apostolic Nuncio to Croatia, the Holy See announced on Monday.

Lingua (59), a doctor of canon law, is the sixth papal representative to Croatia and succeeds Giuseppe Pinto.

He entered the Vatican’s diplomatic service in 1992 and has served in the apostolic nunciatures in the Ivory Coast, the United States, Italy and Serbia. He was named Apostolic Nuncio to Iraq and Jordan in 2010 and to Cuba in 2015.

The Archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Josip Bozanic, congratulated Lingua on his appointment. “Our history is marked by special bonds of union with the Holy See, and we expect you with an open heart,” the cardinal said.