Who is Nuncio? The word is foreign and is used mainly in the field of diplomacy. Therefore, few people know its significance. Most often, when pronouncing it, an association with the word "papal" arises. Details about who it is - the nuncio will be discussed in the article.
Dictionary Interpretation
The word being studied is accompanied by a note “diplomatic”. It denotes a person who represents the pope in countries with which the Vatican maintains diplomatic relations, and acting on an ongoing basis. This position corresponds to the rank of ambassador - extraordinary and plenipotentiary.
In addition, in civil law, the concept of "nuncio" stands for a person who transmits only someone else's will. It is contrasted with a representative who, on behalf of the represented, commits his own will.
The term "nuncio" comes from the Latin noun nuntius. The latter means “messenger,” “messenger,” “sent.”
Apostolic Nuncio
This is the official name of the agent representing the Vatican and the pope as his head in other subjects of international law. As mentioned above, his status is equivalent to the status of an ambassador - a diplomatic representative of the first class. This was first noted by the Vienna Protocol of 1815. It was signed by the participants in the peaceful Paris Treaty. The protocol says that ambassadors, papal legates (authorized popes) or nuncio are considered as representatives of their sovereigns.
This provision was adopted by the Vienna Convention of 1961. Then it was determined that the nuncio is accredited on an equal basis with the ambassadors to the heads of state. Initially, the Vatican sent them only to those states where the Catholic religion was considered as the dominant one. In these countries, there is a tradition of special respect for such a position. In particular, this is expressed in the fact that the person holding her is granted the post of Doyen - the head of the corps of diplomats.
Along with the Vienna Convention, the activities of the Nuncii are regulated by canons 362-367 of the Code of Canon Law. As a rule, they are in the rank of archbishop and are vested with the right to worship in any of the Catholic churches located on the territory of the diplomatic mission. An example is the Catholic Cathedral on Malaya Gruzinskaya in Moscow.
The papal ambassadors are not members of the local conference of Catholic bishops, but they are required to maintain close contact with her, providing all kinds of assistance.
Rights and obligations
Considering the question of who this is the nuncio, it should be said about the circle of his duties, which includes the following functions:
- Maintaining relations between the Holy See and the authorities of the host state.
- Discussion of the position of the Catholic Church in the host country, support of the bishopric in the local Church.
- Promotion of mutual understanding, peaceful coexistence of peoples.
- Creating friendly relations not only with representatives of the non-Catholic Christian religion, but also with non-Christian believers.
The right is the opportunity to propose candidates to the Vatican for free bishopric departments, doing this after negotiations with local hierarchs.
Representatives of the pope may be present in those countries with which he does not have full diplomatic relations. They are called apostolic delegates. The latter are also representatives of the papal throne, but they are not endowed with embassy diplomatic status. Previously, there were such positions as internunctions and pronunciations. These were agents of the second rank, today such statuses in diplomatic practice do not exist.
Nunciature
Derived from the word "nuncio". This is the embassy of the pope in any country. It represents the Vatican's diplomatic mission, led by a nuncio, having the highest level and equivalent to the embassy. It is the link between the Catholic Church in a particular country and the Holy See.
Our country also maintains relations with the Vatican through the apostolic nunciature in Moscow. It was created in 1990. Then the Holy See and the USSR after a long break established official relations.
A bit of history
When the Soviet Union collapsed, the Holy See on September 5, 1991 recognized the sovereignty and independence of Russia. December 20, 1991, B.N. Yeltsin, being the President of the Russian Federation, paid an official visit to the Pope. The second time, Pope John Paul II received Yeltsin in 1998.
November 22, 2009, D. A. Medvedev, as president of the Russian Federation, signed a decree establishing diplomatic relations with the Vatican. In it, the Russian Foreign Ministry was instructed to conduct negotiations with the Vatican in order to establish relations at the level of apostolic nunciature in the Russian Federation and the Russian Embassy in the Vatican. It also spoke of the need to transform the Russian representative office in the Vatican into an embassy. 12/09/2009 between the Vatican and Russia there was an exchange of notes providing for the establishment of relations at the embassy level.
Since then, there have been six nuncii in the Russian Federation. These are the archbishops:
- Francesco Colasuonno (1990-1994);
- John Bukowski (1994-2000);
- George Zure (2000-2002);
- Antonio Mennini (2002-2010);
- Ivana Yurkovich (2011-2016);
- Celestino Migliore (2016 - present).
In conclusion, we will talk about the current representative of the Vatican in Russia.
Papal Nuncio Biography Facts
Celestino Migliore was born in 1952. He is an Italian prelate and a Vatican diplomat. He was ordained a priest in 1977, has a master's degree in theology, and a doctor of canon law. From 1980 to 1984, he served as attaché and second secretary of the apostolic delegation in Angola.
In 1984, he was appointed to the Apostolic Nunciature in the United States, in 1988 to the Nunciature in Egypt, in 1989 in Poland and Warsaw. Since 1992, he was special envoy to France, in Strasbourg, under the Council of Europe. Since 1995, he has been Deputy Secretary of the Section dealing with relations with a number of states.
At the same time, Migliore was also responsible for establishing diplomatic relations with those states that at that time did not have formal relations with the Vatican. In this status, he negotiated with representatives of countries such as China, Vietnam, North Korea. He also participated in UN conferences. Celestino Migliore was a professor of church diplomacy as a visiting professor at the Pontifical Lateran University.
From 2002 to the present
In October 2002, Migliore received an assignment from John Paul II to the UN as permanent observer. This post is equivalent to the post of ambassador. The archbishop was the fourth person to serve in this role. Then he became the archbishop of Canosa.
One of the main events during the tenure of Migliore as an observer at the UN was the visit by Pope Benedict XVI of its headquarters in April 2008. At that time, Pope had a meeting with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and made an appeal to the General Assembly.
In 2010, the archbishop was appointed an apostolic nuncio to Poland. And in May 2016 he was relieved of this post. The reason for this is the transfer by nuncio to Russia. Since January 2017, it is also such in Uzbekistan concurrently.