During his five-year mission in India, Archbishop Girelli travelled extensively across the country, including several pastoral visits to the Northeast region. In Meghalaya alone he visited six times, namely the Archdiocese of Shillong and the Dioceses of Tura and Nongstoin.
He also travelled to several other dioceses in Northeast India, including the Diocese of Itanagar, where he spent the Christmas celebrations in 2025, as well as the Dioceses of Miao, Agartala and Tezpur, Bongaigaon, Kohima and the Archdiocese of Guwahati.
During these visits he presided over or participated in several important ecclesial celebrations in the region. These included the episcopal ordination of Auxiliary Bishop Joachim Walder of Aizawl, the episcopal ordination of Archbishop Linus Neli, the imposition of the Pallium on Archbishop Victor Lyngdoh, the episcopal ordination of Auxiliary Bishop Bernard Laloo of Shillong, and the episcopal ordination of Bishop Wilbert Marwein of Nongstoin. He also presided over the centenary celebrations marking the arrival of the Catholic faith in the Diocese of Aizawl.
Archbishop Girelli made a significant contribution to the life of the Church by announcing numerous episcopal appointments on behalf of the Holy Father. As of September 20, 2024, the Archbishop had made 58 episcopal announcements, including three for the Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara Churches and 52 for the Latin Church. These appointments included six Metropolitan Archbishops, forty Bishops, two Co-adjutor Bishops and ten Auxiliary Bishops.
Many long-vacant dioceses were filled during this period, leaving only eleven vacant episcopal sees as of September 20, 2024. Notably, the first two months of 2024 recorded the highest number of announcements during his tenure.
Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli was born in Predore (Bergamo), Italy, on March 13, 1953. He was ordained a priest on June 17, 1978, and holds a Doctorate in Theology. He entered the Diplomatic Service of the Holy See on July 13, 1987.
During his diplomatic service he worked in the Apostolic Nunciatures in Cameroon and New Zealand, and later in the Section for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State of the Holy See. He also served at the Apostolic Nunciature in the United States.
On April 13, 2006, he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Indonesia and, on October 10, 2006, Apostolic Nuncio to East Timor. On January 13, 2011, he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Singapore, Apostolic Delegate to Malaysia and Brunei, and non-resident Pontifical Representative to Vietnam.
On September 13, 2017, he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Israel and Apostolic Delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine. Two days later, on September 15, 2017, he was also appointed Apost
olic Nuncio to Cyprus.
On March 13, 2021, he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to India, where he served until his new appointment to Croatia on March 13, 2026. He speaks Italian, English and French.
Croatia, located in Central and Southeast Europe, has 17 Catholic dioceses and one Eastern Catholic jurisdiction, the Eparchy of Križevci, belonging to the Byzantine-Slavonic tradition of the Catholic Church.