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Giuseppe Leanza KC*HS (born 2 January 1943) was born in Cesarò, Italy. and ordained on 17 July 1966.
Pope John Paul II appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti and Titular Archbishop of Lilybaeum 3 July 1990. He was consecrated bishop on 22 September 1990 by Secretary of State to His Holiness, Agostino Cardinal Casaroli, serving as principal consecrator, with Cardinal Pio Laghi and Bishop Ignazio Zambito as Principal Co–Consecrators. He was appointed apostolic nuncio to Zambia and pro-nuncio to Malawi on 4 June 1991 and then nuncio to Bosnia and Herzegovina on 29 April 1999. He was named nuncio to Slovenia on 15 May 2002, to which the title nuncio to Macedonia was added three days later. On 22 February 2003 he was appointed nuncio to Bulgaria.
Archbishop Leanza declined an invitation to address the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee, a decision described as "scandalous" by Fine Gael's then-spokesperson on children, Alan Shatter. Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza was invited to appear before the committee following calls for his expulsion after the Murphy commission revealed that the papal nuncio had refused to co-operate with its inquiry into clerical abuse in the Dublin diocese. In a letter to committee chairman Michael Woods, Archbishop Leanza said "it is not the practice of the Holy See that apostolic nuncios appear before parliamentary commissions". The letter, dated 12 February, said: "As the papal representative, I am always available to examine questions of mutual interest in the relations between the Holy See and Ireland through contacts with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, as has been the norm hitherto. Decision of papal nuncio not to attend Dáil committee 'scandalous', irishtimes.com. Accessed 8 March 2024.
In the Irish Parliament, The Dáil, Minister Martin said: "Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza, called to Iveagh House at my request on Tuesday of last week to discuss the report of the Dublin archdiocese commission of investigation, and the issue of the co-operation received by the commission from the Holy See and successive Papal Nuncios as it carried out its investigations. At this meeting, I conveyed to the Papal Nuncio the deep anger and outrage of the Irish public at the appalling abuse of children detailed in the commission's report. I emphasised to Archbishop Leanza the importance of the Vatican providing a substantive response to inquiries from the commission. I explained to the Nuncio the need for the Holy See to provide the fullest possible co-operation with any ongoing or further State investigations into clerical child abuse, including in the context of the upcoming inquiry by the commission into the diocese of Cloyne. The Nuncio undertook to convey my strong view that the Vatican should co-operate with any request from the Dublin and Cloyne commission or any future commission to co-operate with any request for information."
Archbishop Leanza attended all meetings at the Vatican during the 15–16 February 2010 summit involving Pope Benedict, senior Curial cardinals and the Irish bishops. However, he did not contribute to proceedings nor did he or the Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Bertone make any reference at the various sessions to the decision of Archbishop Leanza not to appear before the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs, said the Archbishop of Cashel and Emly Dermot Clifford. Papal nuncio attends every session with bishops, irishtimes.com. 18 February 2010.
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