El-Kassis graduated utroque iure, a doctorate in both civil law and church law. He received the sacrament of Holy Orders on 21 May 1994. He is fluent in Lebanese, Arabic, French, Italian, English, Indonesian, Spanish, and German[2]
Diplomatic career
He joined the diplomatic service of the Holy See on 19 June 2000 and has served in the Apostolic Nunciatures in Indonesia, the Sudan and Turkey. From 2007 until 2018, he served at the Foreign Relations office of the Secretariat of State in the Holy See.