FORMER PAPAL NUNCIO SURVEYS VATICAN RELATIONS WITH U.S.

Vatican, Jan. 26 (CWNews.com) - US Vice President Dick Cheney will visit the Vatican on January 27. On the eve of that visit, a former apostolic nuncio to the United States offered his reflections on diplomatic ties between Rome and Washington.

Cheney will speak with Pope John Paul II during a trip that will also include talks with Italy's President Azeglio Ciampi and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. He will be the first ranking American official to visit the Vatican since Secretary of State Colin Powell met with the Pope in June 2003.

Cardinal Pio Laghi-- who served in Washington for 10 years, as the first nuncio after the establishment of full diplomatic ties between the US and the Holy See-- told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera that relations were generally good, despite "great divergences of viewpoints" on the wars in the Gulf and in Kosovo, and on the treatment of Saddam Hussein.

Cardinal Laghi argued that "without diplomatic relations, there would be more difficulty." He also pointed out that in the 20 years since the establishment of formal diplomatic ties, the US and the Vatican have collaborated on international issues such as the cause of freedom in Poland and the independence of East Timor.

The US was very late to open formal diplomatic relations with the Holy See, the cardinal observed, "because of the anti-Catholic prejudice that is deeply rooted in American history." He said that the resistance to accepting a papal envoy was gradually overcome, suggesting that the reasons for the change in American policy included 'the growing role of Catholics in society, the innovative character of Vatican II, the Kennedy presidency, the visit by Paul VI to the United States." The crucial breakthrough, however, came with the Reagan presidency, he said.

During the early 1980s, Cardinal Laghi continued, the ties between Washington and Rome were tightened by "converging interests" in the struggle against Communism.

Last year's war in Iraq, on the other hand, caused serious strains in the relationship, the cardinal observed. He recalled that Vatican diplomats had unsuccessfully urged President George W. Bush to explore other alternatives, arguing that military action would "endanger relations with the Muslim world." In the aftermath of the war, he continued, the Vatican has urged American leaders to set policies in accord with international law.

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