Updated: Former Sen. Joe Donnelly to step down as ambassador to the Holy See at Vatican
On July 8, former U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly will step down from his job as the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, a former local staff member confirmed on Thursday.
“I will be coming home on July 8,” Donnelly said in a brief text to The Tribune from abroad. “It has been an amazing privilege to serve our Country and the President.”
President Joe Biden had nominated him as ambassador to the Vatican in Rome in 2021, to which Donnelly was confirmed on Jan. 20, 2022.
Prior to that, as a Granger resident, the Democrat had served as senator from 2013 to 2019 after serving as U.S. House representative from 2007 to 2013.
A native of New York, he also graduated from the University of Notre Dame with his bachelor’s degree in 1977, then a law degree in 1981.
Donnelly said that the charge d'affaires, or the temporary replacement for the ambassador, will be Laura Hochla, who is deputy chief of mission at the Embassy Vatican City.
South Bend Tribune reporter Joseph Dits can be reached at 574-235-6158 or jdits@sbtinfo.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Joe Donnelly to leave as U.S. ambassador to the Holy See at Vatican
