Archbishop Jean-Marie Speich resigns as nuncio just 10 months into Netherlands post

by Catholic Trends

February 24, 2026

in International

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Archbishop Jean-Marie Speich

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Archbishop Jean-Marie Speich has stepped down as Apostolic Nuncio to the Netherlands only ten months after taking up the post, with Pope Leo XIV accepting his resignation.

Although the Regulations for Pontifical Representations permit nuncios to retire at the age of 70, it is highly unusual for one to do so after such a short tenure. The Dutch newspaper Nederlands Dagblad reported that the reasons for Archbishop Speich’s resignation are “shrouded in mystery.”

Archbishop Jean-Marie Antoine Joseph Speich was born on 15 June 1955 in Strasbourg, in the Diocese of Strasbourg, France. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Strasbourg on 9 October 1982.

Pope Francis named him an Archbishop in 2013 and was the principal consecrator at his episcopal ordination Mass in St Peter’s Basilica.

On 17 August 2013, he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana and Titular Archbishop of Sulci. He was ordained a bishop on 24 October 2013 at the Cathedral of San Pietro in Rome.

On 19 March 2019, Archbishop Speich was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Slovenia and Apostolic Delegate to Kosovo. He later served as Apostolic Nuncio to the Netherlands from 12 April 2025 until his retirement on 21 February 2026.

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Daily Reading

Wednesday of the Thirty-first week in Ordinary Time

Letter to the Philippians 2,12-18.

My beloved, obedient as you have always been, not... only when I am present but all the more now when I am absent, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
For God is the one who, for his good purpose, works in you both to desire and to work.
Do everything without grumbling or questioning,
that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like lights in the world,
as you hold on to the word of life, so that my boast for the day of Christ may be that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
But, even if I am poured out as a libation upon the sacrificial service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with all of you.
In the same way you also should rejoice and share your joy with me.

Psalms 27(26),1.4.13-14.

The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom... should I fear?
The LORD is my life's refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?

One thing I ask of the LORD
this I seek:
to dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
that I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD
and contemplate his temple.

I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 14,25-33.

Great crowds were traveling with Jesus, and... he turned and addressed them,
"If any one comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion?
Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him
and say, 'This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.'
Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?
But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.
In the same way, anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple."

Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB
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Go to Daily Readings

Archbishop Jean-Marie Speich resigns as nuncio just 10 months into Netherlands post

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