Pope Francis received at the Vatican on Aug. 26 Ecuador’s new ambassador to the Holy See, Edmundo Uribe Pérez.

The South American country’s new representative to the Vatican presented his credentials to the Holy Father Monday during a private audience at the Apostolic Palace.

Uribe was appointed ambassador by Ecuador’s president, Daniel Noboa, on May 22, replacing Alicia de Jesús Crespo Vega.

The audience between Uribe and Pope Francis, of which the Holy See did not share details, took place less than two weeks before the start of the International Eucharistic Congress, which will be held Sept. 8–15 in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, and for which Pope Francis named Venezuelan Cardinal Baltazar Porras as his pontifical legate.

Who is Uribe?

Jorge Edmundo Uribe Pérez was born on Sept. 7, 1952. He is married and has a daughter.

He completed his primary and secondary studies at Holy Spirit School in Guayaquil run by the Claretian Fathers and studied law for two years at the Catholic University of Guayaquil.

He studied world history, with an emphasis on the philosophy of history, and took a senior management course at the IDE Business School in 2017.

He has also been president of the Foundation of the Ecuadorian Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property and director of the Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador (2018–2023).

More in Vatican

From 1985–2006 he developed several projects with partners in Ecuador. He was founder and executive president of Tropical Fruit Export S.A. from 2018–2023 and is an active member of the Pontifical Institute Heralds of the Gospel.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.