VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis met with the Irish Ambassador to the Holy See, Frances Collins, on Monday morning, the Vatican said in a press release.

 The pontiff held an audience with Ambassador Collins in the Apostolic Palace, in order to receive her credential letters written by the President of Ireland and the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs.

 The 42 year-old diplomat graduated from the University of Limerick with a degree in History, Politics and Social Studies in 2003 before taking a master’s in European Integration at the same institution.

 Ambassador Collins has previously held the following appointments; Desk Officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with responsibility for public information and educational development, in the Division for Cooperation and Development (2008 – 2012), Desk Officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with responsibility for Central, East and West Africa, in the Humanitarian Division (2012 – 2014), Second Secretary, Ugandan Embassy (2014 – 2017), Vice Chief of Mission and Chief of Political Section, EU Delegation in South Sudan (2017 – 2019), Vice Director, Section for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, Political Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2019 – 2022). 

 The meeting in the Apostolic Palace represented the Pope’s official recognition of Collins as Irish Ambassador to the Holy See. The embassy, which reopened after a three-year interval in 2014, sits only a stone’s throw away from the Vatican, on Via dei Corridori.

 es