The Pope's Fraternal Eyes

During his nine years as apostolic delegate to the U.S., Archbishop Egidio Vagnozzi, 61, proved to be a somewhat enigmatic and unpopular figure to American Catholics. There were few expressions of regret when Rome announced that Vagnozzi, who last month was named a cardinal by Pope Paul VI, would become a member of the Vatican's Consistorial and Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs Congregations. His successor is Archbishop Luigi Raimondi, currently apostolic delegate to Mexico.

A dour and learned churchly diplomat, Vagnozzi suffered by comparison with his much admired predecessor, Amleto Cardinal Cicognani, now the Vatican's Secretary of State. Privately, many American bishops complained that Vagnozzi took too active an interest in the internal affairs of the U.S. church. In 1963, for example, he persuaded several prelates to cancel speaking engagements of the radical-minded Swiss Theologian Hans Kueng. Both before and after the Second Vatican Council, Vagnozzi delivered repeated speeches warning U.S. Catholics against imprudent hankerings for too much change. The apostolic delegate is also known to have expressed strong opinions about episcopal candidates, who are proposed to Rome by the hierarchy for the Pope's approval. Many Catholics take for granted that the large number of ecclesiastically conservative priests named to head bishoprics in recent years is a reflection of Vagnozzi's influence.

Liberal & Likable. His successor appears to be both cooler in approach and warmer in personality. A native of northwest Italy's Piedmont region, Archbishop Raimondi, 54, studied at Rome's Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, entered the Vatican diplomatic service in 1938 as secretary of the papal nunciature in Guatemala. He is no stranger to the U.S., having spent seven years in Washington during the '40s as a secretary and auditor at the apostolic delegation. He also served as charge d'affaires in India and nuncio to Haiti, and since 1956 has discharged his functions as apostolic delegate in anticlerical Mexico with cautious tact. The white-thatched Raimondi is described by acquaintances as "a liberal who knows his limitations," and "a likable man who wants to be liked."

The title of apostolic delegate is one of the most anomalous in the church's bureaucracy. In nations with which it maintains diplomatic ties, the Vatican is represented by 35 nuncios (ambassadors), 16 pro-nuncios (ambassadors of slightly lower rank) and three internuncios (ministers plenipotentiary). The office of apostolic delegate was devised to provide the Vatican with representation in countries, such as the U.S., with which it does not have diplomatic relations. Technically, the apostolic delegate is merely a fraternal envoy to the Catholics of a nation; actually, he is an unofficial diplomat--and, when necessary, a papal hatchet man.

The most widespread objection to these emissaries of the Pope is that they frequently enjoy far more influence in Rome than do local cardinal-archbishops who outrank them. In recent years, complaints have multiplied that Rome's diplomats meddle too much in the internal affairs of the church in the countries where they are stationed. Extremely liberal Catholic clergy in The Netherlands, for example, have protested that Giuseppe Beltrami, who was internuncio there until he was recently named a cardinal, "kept the wires to Rome hot with reports of heresy in Holland"--not always without justification.

Why Italian? In an era of Catholic collegiality, when national hierarchical organizations are taking on increased responsibility, theologians have suggested that the office of apostolic delegate is something of an anachronism. Some also contend that the apostolic delegates--most of whom are Italian-- might be more effective if they were nationals of the countries to which they are posted. Top Vatican officials do not agree that the office is outdated. Argues one: "There is no way in the world in which the Pope could supervise the work of hundreds of separate episcopacies without having his man on the scene. He needs an eye open for him in each national arena."

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