Jean-Marie Speich (1955)

Archbishop Jean-Marie Speich, Titular Archbishop of Sulci, and current Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana. Archbishop Speich was appointed to his present diplomatic post on 17 August 2013, to succeed Archbishop León Badikebele Kalenga, who was given another assignment as Apostolic Nuncio to El Salvador and Belize. He is the eighth Nuncio and the ninth Papal Representative to Ghana. He was born on 15 June 1955 in Strasbourg, France, of the couple Xavier Speich and Marie Thérèse Goetz – residents of Willgottheim (Bas-Rhin). Andrée Speich, his sister, is a cloistered nun at the Benedictine Monastery Saint-Louis-du-Temple in Limon, Vauhallan.

Monsignor Speich received ordination to the priesthood on 9 October 1982. From 1982 to 1984, he served  as Assistant Pastor at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in the Archdiocese of Strasbourg. Later, he was sent to study in Rome and enter the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, where he was among the members of Class 1984, After finishing his training at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in 1986, he entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See, having been assigned to Apostolic Nunciatures of the Holy See in Haiti, Nigeria, Bolivia, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, Egypt, Spain and Cuba.

In May 2008, he was given responsibility at the Secretariat of State in Rome, as Head Officer of the Section for French-speaking Countries.

Archbishop Speich speaks Italian, English, German, and Spanish, aside from his native Alsatian and French languages. He can also read Portuguese, Flemish, Latin and Greek. His academic credentials include, among others, a doctorate degree in Canon Law, and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (with specialization in Dogma), both from the Pontifical Gregorian University.

Family
Mons. Speich is scion of an old Alemannic family of free men, who are descendants of the Alemanni warrior class called armati by the Romans. Under the Ancient Germanic law, the Speich Family enjoyed the legal status as freemen. They were free land-owners, who had never been vassals to any overlords. Since the early Middle Ages, they refused feudalism and fiercely defended their freedom.

Earliest reference to the Speich dates back to the first half of the 13th century and indicate that the family was established in the Sernftal, which is presently located in the Canton of the Glaris, Switzerland. Prior to the enactment of the Federal Charter or the Letter of Alliance of the Three Forest Cantons) in the year 1291 A.D. (i.e. starting the year 1289 A.D.), they were active in defending their free status against the claims of the Habsburg Dukes Albert of Austria (later Albert I of Germany, King of the Romans); and Rudolph II of Austria and Styria  — sons of Rudolph I, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

During the later part of the 13th century and throughout the 14th century, they were diplomats working to strengthen the independence of their family and of the territory of Glaris. During this period, they also played important roles in the formation and consolidation of the new Confœderatio Helvetica. The more notable among them ware Hans II Speich, who, in 1389, financed the construction of the first chapel, which commemorates the Battle of Näfels (9 April 1388). Also noteworthy to mention was Hans II's talented son, Rudolf II Speich.

The 15th century was the golden age of this family. Many of them, who were rich merchants and bankers with international partnership, became statesmen and members of the Senates of various Swiss cities, e.g. Glaris, Zurich, Bern, Basel, and of the free imperial city of Strasbourg. Andreas Speich the Elder, son of Hans II Speich, came to Strasbourg around 1415 A.D. There, he became a member (Senator) of the Rat of this city and of the first Council of the Fifteen (1433). One of his sons, Hans VII Speich (+1487), was a monk of the Carthusian Monastery in Cologne, and was also the lawyer of this monastery. Andreas Speich the Younger, (another son of the former Andreas the Elder) succeeded his father in 1441, as Senator of the Rat of Strasbourg.

At the beginning of the 16th century, descendants of Speich Family were in contact with a good number of well-known humanist, e.g., Beatus Rhenanus, and Erasmus, who was a frequent guest of Katharina Speich (granddaughter of Andreas the Younger, and wife of the publisher Matthias Schürer). Katharina and Matthias were friends of Jacob Spiegel (nephew of Wimpfeling), the secretary of Emperor Maximilian I and, later, named Palatine Count. The Emperor granted to the couple a coat of arms (1509).

Another distinguished member of the Family was Hans IX Speich, who received from Pope Julius II some privileges in 1512.

During the Renaissance, the Speich family became divided for reasons of religious conviction. The Swiss branches, who were friends and followers of Ulrich Zwingli, adopted the Protestant Reformation (1528-1529), while the rest of the branches remained in the Roman Catholic Church. Mons. Speich descended from one of these Catholic branches established in Alsace.

Assignments in the Diplomatic Service of the Holy See ( Vatican )
(Cf. Official curriculum vitae of Archbishop Jean-Marie Speich.)


 * 1986–1987 : Attaché, Apostolic Nunciature in Haiti
 * 1987–1989 : Second Secretary, Apostolic Nunciature in Haiti
 * 1989–1990 : Second Secretary, Apostolic Nunciature in Nigeria
 * 1990–1991 : First Secretary, Apostolic Nunciature in Nigeria
 * 1991–1993 : First Secretary, Apostolic Nunciature in Bolivia
 * 1993–1994 : Auditor, Apostolic Nunciature in Bolivia
 * 1994–1995 : Auditor, Apostolic Nunciature in Canada
 * 1995–1998 : Second Counselor, Apostolic Nunciature in Federal Republic of Germany
 * 1998–1999 : Second Counselor, Apostolic Nunciature in Great Britain
 * 1999–2001 : First Counselor, Apostolic Nunciature in Great Britain
 * 2001–2004 : First Counselor, Apostolic Nunciature in the Arab Republic Egypt
 * 2004–2006 : First Counselor, Apostolic Nunciature in Spain and Andorra
 * 2006–2008 : First Counselor, Apostolic Nunciature in Cuba
 * 2008–2013 : Head of the Francophone Section of the Secretariat of State of the Holy See
 * 2013 –    : Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana

Special Missions in the Diplomatic Service of the Holy See
(Cf. Official curriculum vitae of Archbishop Jean-Marie Speich.)


 * 21–23 June1996: Participation in the preparation of the Apostolic Visit of Pope John Paul II to Germany (Paderborn and Berlin).
 * 20 – 31 October 1997: Head of the Delegation of the Holy See with role of observer to the UNFCCC – Meeting of the Subsidiary Bodies, United Nations Meeting on Climate Change, Bonn (Federal Republic of Germany).
 * June 1996 – July 1998: In charge of the project (first phase) – Pavilion of the Holy See at the World Expo 2000, Hannover (Federal Republic of Germany).
 * June 1996 – July 1998: In charge of the first phase of the construction of the seat of the Apostolic Nunciature, Berlin (Federal Republic of Germany).
 * 19 November 2001 – 10 September 2004: Deputy Delegate, Delegation of the Holy See to the Arab League, Cairo (Egypt).
 * 24 – 25 February 2003: Member of the Delegation of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue at the meeting of the Joint Commission for Dialogue between the Commission of Monotheistic Religions of the al-Azhar of Egypt, and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue of the Holy See, Cairo (Egypt).
 * 29 April – 2 May 2004: Head of the Delegation of the Holy See to the Sixteenth World Islamic Congress, Cairo (Egypt).
 * 17–19 July 2004: Member of the Delegation of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue for the meeting of the Joint Commission of the International Islamic Forum and Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Cairo (Egypt).
 * 13 -17 September 2004: Head of the Delegation of the Holy See at the 2nd Session of the World Urban Forum, UN-HABITAT, Barcelona (Spain).
 * 6 – 8 October 2004 : Head of the Delegation of the Holy See at the 2nd International Conference of the UNESCO's project "From Potential Conflict to Cooperation Potential" (PCCP), Zaragoza (Spain).
 * March to September 2005: Responsible for the Apostolic Visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Valencia, Spain.
 * 23 – 24 May 2006: Representative of the Holy See at the meeting organised by the Agency of United Nations' Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) on the rescue and interception of illegal refugees in the Mediterranean, Madrid (Spain).
 * 16 – 18 October 2006: Representative of the Holy See at the 6th Regional Conference of the Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC) for Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, Córdoba (Spain).
 * 28 – 30 January 2008: Head of the Delegation of the Holy See at the 2nd International Conference "Por el equilibrio del mundo", Havana (Cuba).
 * 11–13 September 2008: Member of the Papal Entourage during the Apostolic Visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Paris and Lourdes, France.
 * 18–20 November 2011: member of the Papal Entourage during the Apostolic Visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Cotonou, Benin.
 * 14–16 September 2012: member of the Papal Entourage during the Apostolic Voyage of Pope Benedict XVI to Beirut, Lebanon.

The Coat of Arms and Motto of Archbishop Speich
The coat of arms of Mons. Speich date back to the first half of the 13th century (around 1241), and is well-known among the Swiss heraldic circles. The blason of the arms is as follows:

(German)

"In Silber über grünem Dreiberg steigender gebildeter goldener Mond, uberhöht von goldenem Kreuz",

(French)

"D'argent à la croix d'or alésée à pal brochant la fasce en chef sur la lune croissante d'or figurée en abîme,le tout sur trois pointes de montagne sinople".

The coat of arms of Archbishop Speich's maternal family (Goetz or Götz), on the other hand, was granted by the French King Louis XIV. It is blasoned as follows:

"D'argent à un coeur de gueule surmontė d'un chicot de sinople posé en pal, et accosté de quatre étoiles de gueule en flancs et deux en pointe".

The Archbishop assumed the motto of Speich Family of Strasbourg, which has been in use since 1415. This motto "Wi I Kan", which is in Alemannic German and which Mons. Speich prefers to be excluded from his ecclesiastical coat of arms (in line with his family tradition), means "As I can".

Ecclesiastical honours

 * External Ornaments of a Chaplain of His Holiness.svg Chaplain of His Holiness, 15 October 1988.
 * External Ornaments of a Domestic Prelate.svg Honorary Prelate of His Holiness, 10 November 1998.

Other Honours, awards and decorations

 * Haiti National Order of Honour and Merit.png National Order of Honour and Merit of Haiti, Commander, 2 August 1989.
 * GER Bundesverdienstkreuz 4 GrVK.svg Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Commander, 24 February 1999.
 * SMOM-c.svg Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Conventual Chaplain ad honorem, 24 June 2006.
 * Legion Honneur Chevalier ribbon.svg Legion of Honor of the Republic of France, Knight, 1 January 2010.
 * Grande ufficiale SSML BAR.svg Dynastic Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus of the House of Savoy, Grand Officer, 14 September 2013.