US embassy cable - 03VATICAN4649

UNCLAS VATICAN 004649 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT. FOR EUR/WE (LEVIN) AND INR/B 
 
E.O. 12958 N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINR, VT 
SUBJECT: BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ON GIOVANNI LAJOLO - HOLY 
SEE'S NEW FOREIGN MINISTER 
 
 
1. (U) POPE JOHN PAUL II HAS APPOINTED HIS NUNCIO TO 
GERMANY, ARCHBISHOP GIOVANNI LAJOLO, AS SECRETARY OF THE 
SECTION FOR RELATIONS WITH STATE OF THE SECRETARIAT OF 
STATE, THE HOLY SEE'S EQUIVALENT OF FOREIGN MINISTER.  THE 
OCTOBER 7 APPOINTMENT TAKES EFFECT IMMEDIATELY.  LAJOLO 
SUCCEEDS ARCHBISHOP JEAN-LOUIS TAURAN, WHOM POPE JOHN PAUL 
    II WILL CREATE A CARDINAL AT A VATICAN CITY CEREMONY ON 
OCTOBER 21. LAJOLO'S APPOINTMENT IS EXPECTED TO PROVIDE 
CONTINUITY FOR THE VATICAN'S FOREIGN POLICY.  LAJALO'S 
MOTHER WAS AMERICAN, AND HE IS CONSIDERED FAVORABLY 
DISPOSED TO THE UNITED STATES. 
 
2. (U) LAJOLO (LA-YO-LO) WAS BORN IN THE NORTHERN ITALIAN 
CITY OF NOVARA ON JANUARY 3, 1935, AND ORDAINED A PRIEST ON 
APRIL 29. 1960.  AFTER WORKING IN THE DIOCESE OF NOVARA, 
LAJOLO ENTERED THE HOLY SEE'S PRESTIGIOUS DIPLOMATIC 
SCHOOL, THE PONTIFICAL ECCLESIASTICAL ACADEMY, IN 1968 AND 
OBTAINED A DOCTORATE IN CANON LAW (CHURCH LAW). HE ENTERED 
THE HOLY SEE'S FOREIGN SERVICE IN 1970.  ARCHBISHOP LAJOLO 
HAS SERVED AT THE NUNCIATURE IN GERMANY AND AT THE HOLY 
SEE'S FOREIGN MINISTRY. THE FUTURE ARCHBISHOP WAS A 
PROFESSOR AT THE PONTIFICAL ECCLESIASTICAL ACADEMY FROM 
1985 UNTIL 1989. IN 1988 HE WAS APPOINTED SECRETARY (NUMBER 
2 POSITION) OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE PATRIMONY OF THE 
HOLY SEE (ADMINISTERS THE PROPERTIES OWNED BY THE HOLY SEE 
IN ORDER TO PROVIDE THE FUNDS NECESSARY FOR THE ROMAN CURIA 
TO FUNCTION).  HE WAS ORDAINED AN ARCHBISHOP IN 1989.  POPE 
JOHN PAUL II APPOINTED LAJOLO AS NUNCIO TO GERMANY IN 1995, 
WHERE HE HAS GENERALLY AVOIDED THE LIMELIGHT.  APART FROM 
HIS NATIVE ITALIAN, THE ARCHBISHOP SPEAKS ENGLISH, FRENCH 
AND GERMAN. 
 
3. (U) LAJOLO WAS THE HOLY SEE'S POINT MAN DURING THE 2000 
CONFRONTATION WITH GERMAN CATHOLICS OVER CHURCH-BASED 
COUNSELING CENTERS PROVIDING CERTIFICATES LATER USED TO 
PROCURE ABORTIONS.  THE VATICAN ORDERED GERMANY'S BISHOPS 
TO DROP PREGNANCY COUNSELING FROM THE SERVICES PROVIDED BY 
    THE CENTERS TO PREVENT CHURCH INVOLVEMENT IN STATE-PROVIDED 
ABORTIONS. 
 
4. (SBU) GERMAN EMBASSY DCM, WHO MET WITH LAJOLO BEFORE 
BEGINNING HIS ASSIGNMENT DESCRIBED HIM AS SOMEONE WHO HOLDS 
HIS CARDS VERY CLOSE TO HIS CHEST.  ONE CURRENT SECRETARIAT 
OF STATE OFFICIAL WHO STUDIED UNDER LAJOLO FOR THREE YEARS 
AT THE HOLY SEE'S ECCLESIASTICAL ACADEMY -- THE VATICAN'S 
DIPLOMATIC TRAINING SCHOOL -- SAID HE HAD NO IDEA WHERE 
LAJOLO STOOD PERSONALLY ON MOST ISSUES.  AS NUNCIO IN 
GERMANY, LAJOLO WAS DEEPLY INVOLVED IN THE SELECTION OF 
GERMAN BISHOPS, BUT HIS INVOLVEMENT ON BROADER 
INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ISSUES WOULD HAVE BEEN LIMITED. 
 
5. (SBU) ONE JOURNALIST WHO HAS RECENTLY INTERVIEWED LAJOLO 
TOLD US THAT LAJOLO'S MOTHER WAS AMERICAN, HAVING MOVED TO 
THE U.S. AS A CHILD.  SHE WAS RAISED THERE AND RETURNED TO 
ITALY, BUT RETAINED HER CITIZENSHIP THROUGHOUT HER LIFE. 
LAJOLO REPORTEDLY TRAVELED WITHIN THE U.S. TWENTY YEARS AGO 
-- POSSIBLY ON AN INTERNATIONAL VISITOR PROGRAM -- AND HE 
HAS KEPT UP HIS TIES IN THE U.S.  HIS DEPUTY IN BERLIN FOR 
HIS EIGHT YEARS AS NUNCIO WAS AN AMERICAN FROM SIOUX FALLS, 
SOUTH DAKOTA.  THE JOURNALIST DESCRIBED LAJOLO AS OPEN TO 
AND "VERY FRIENDLY TOWARD" THE U.S. 
 
NICHOLSON 
 
NNNN 

 2003VATICA04649 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED