On January 31, 2020, Pope Francis accepted the renunciation of Monsignor Edward Adams, 75, of his office of Apostolic Nuncio in Great Britain.
The Archbishop was appointed to this post on April 8, 2017. A native of the United States, born in Philadelphia in 1944, Monsignor Adams was ordained a priest in 1970 and entered the Holy See’s diplomatic service.
Consecrated Bishop in 1996, he was Nuncio in Bangladesh and then in Zimbabwe. In 2007, Benedict XVI appointed him Apostolic Nuncio in the Philippines then in Greece in 2011.
Pope Francis’ Motu Proprio “Learn to Retire,” made public in February 2018, established that non-Cardinal heads of the Roman Curia’s Dicasteries, Bishops and Prelates of the Curia and papal representatives are invited to present their renunciation at the age of retirement. However, the acceptance isn’t automatic; it’s a papal decision. So the Pope can decide to prorogue their service.
