Peter Bryan Wells


Peter Bryan Wells is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who has spent his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He has worked in Rome in the administration of the Secretariat of State and in foreign postings. He has been an archbishop and a nuncio since 2016.

Early years

Wells was born the first of five children in Tulsa, Oklahoma He completed his studies in philosophy at St. Meinrad Seminary College in Indiana. He completed his studies in theology at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. He was ordained a priest on July 12, 1991 for the Diocese of Tulsa.
In 1990, he obtained a baccalaureate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University and a licentiate in theology at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in 1992.
He received a licentiate and a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1998 and 1999. At the same time he was a student at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy.
After his ordination, Wells worked as a curate at Holy Family Cathedral in Tulsa, special secretary to the Bishop of Tulsa, and vicar for religious education in the diocese.

Diplomatic service

Wells entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See on July 1, 1999, working in the apostolic nunciature in Nigeria and, beginning in 2002, in the Section for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State. He was appointed to head the English-language desk in 2006. Besides his native English, he speaks Italian, French, German and Spanish.
He was named assessor on July 16, 2009. Speaking about his work as assessor of general affairs, Wells said that the role of papal diplomacy was to allow Pope Francis and his representatives to "have the ability to act freely in the world" and not be "impeded in their ministry," especially in reaching out to the most marginalized.
Pope Francis named Wells secretary of the five-member Pontifical Commission responsible for investigating the Institute for the Works of Religion in 2013. Wells also served as president of the Holy See's Financial Security Committee.
On February 9, 2016 Wells was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to South Africa and Botswana and titular Archbishop of Marcianopolis. On February 13, he was also named apostolic nuncio to Lesotho and Namibia. He was consecrated a bishop on March 19, 2016 by Pope Francis. On June 13, 2016 he was also appointed apostolic nuncio to Swaziland.

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