US embassy cable - 02VATICAN3636

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VATICAN 003636 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT. EUR/WE (MENNUTI) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PREL, VT, VTPGOV 
SUBJECT: THE LIMITS OF VATICAN PERSUASION ON BISHOPS' 
POLITICAL VIEWS 
 
REF: 2001 VATICAN 0196 
 
1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: DESPITE THE PERCEPTION OF THE HOLY SEE AS 
A HIERARCHICAL ORGANIZATION, IT RARELY GIVES "MARCHING 
ORDERS" TO CATHOLIC BISHOPS ON SECULAR POLITICAL MATTERS. 
IN THE RARE CASES WHEN IT DOES DECIDE TO PRESS ITS POLITICAL 
VIEWS, IT IS LARGELY LIMITED TO THE POWER OF PAPAL 
PERSUASION - WHICH IS COMPELLING, BUT NOT ALWAYS ENOUGH TO 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
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CHANGE BISHOPS' INDIVIDUAL CONVICTIONS.  THE POPE'S VIEWS ON 
POLITICAL MATTERS ARE CONVEYED BY THE SECRETARIAT OF STATE 
THROUGH THE LOCAL NUNCIO.  HOWEVER, THE HOLY SEE GENERALLY 
SEEKS TO AVOID PUBLIC DISPUTES, BOTH TO PRESERVE THE UNITY 
OF THE CHURCH AND TO PROTECT THE PHYSICAL SECURITY OF ITS 
ADHERENTS IN COUNTRIES WHERE CATHOLICS ARE A THREATENED 
MINORITY.  WHEN LOCAL BISHOPS' VIEWS RUN COUNTER TO U.S. 
INTERESTS, DIRECT CONTACT WITH THE RESIDENT NUNCIO AND THE 
BISHOPS THEMSELVES OFFER THE BEST MEANS TO ADDRESS ISSUES. 
EMBASSY VATICAN WOULD ALSO BE PREPARED TO RAISE ISSUES OF 
PRIORITY INTEREST WITH THE SECRETARIAT OF STATE.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
-------------------- 
BISHOPS AND POLITICS 
-------------------- 
 
2.  (SBU) EMBASSY VATICAN OCCASIONALLY RECEIVES QUERIES FROM 
POSTS AS TO WHETHER THE HOLY SEE MIGHT INTERVENE TO CHANGE 
THE POLITICAL BEHAVIOR OF A BISHOP.  RECENT INQUIRIES, FOR 
EXAMPLE, HAVE FOCUSED ON HARD LINE CROAT-NATIONALIST CLERGY 
IN CROATIA AND BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA AND BISHOPS' LETTERS 
SEEMING TO SUPPORT BASQUE SEPARATISM.  IN THE PAST, BISHOPS' 
SUPPORT FOR LIBERATION THEOLOGY IN CENTRAL AMERICA OR 
REPRESSIVE REGIMES IN THE SOUTHERN CONE OF LATIN AMERICA 
HAVE EVOKED CONSIDERABLE PUBLIC DISCUSSION AND CRITICISM. 
UNLIKE OTHER GOVERNMENTS WE MIGHT APPROACH TO REIN IN AN 
OFFICIAL, THE HOLY SEE IS CONSTRAINED ON POLITICAL ISSUES 
(UNLIKE ISSUES OF CHURCH DOCTRINE) BY CHURCH STRUCTURES AND 
TRADITIONS FROM COMPELLING ADHERENCE TO VIEWS FAVORED BY THE 
CURIA. 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
PAGE 03        VATICA  03636  01 OF 02  231501Z 
 
------------------------------ 
THE LIMITS TO PAPAL PERSUASION 
------------------------------ 
 
3. (U) THE HOLY SEE HAS LIMITED OPTIONS FOR INFLUENCING 
LOCAL BISHOPS' POLITICAL VIEWS.  USUALLY IT RELIES ON THE 
POWER OF PERSUASION VIA THE LOCAL NUNCIO.  A BISHOP IS 
BROADLY AUTONOMOUS IN HIS DIOCESE, HOWEVER, AS THE CATHOLIC 
CHURCH FOLLOWS THE PRINCIPLE OF SUBSIDIARITY -- THE 
REQUIREMENT THAT LOCAL ELEMENTS OF THE CHURCH MANAGE THEIR 
OWN AFFAIRS.  THE HOLY SEE MAY INVOKE THE FEALTY OF A BISHOP 
TO HIS POPE, BUT IT HAS LIMITED DISCIPLINARY RECOURSE IN THE 
EVENT THE BISHOP REFUSES TO ALTER OR TONE DOWN HIS VIEWS. 
WERE THE POPE TO ATTEMPT TO REPLACE OR RECALL THE BISHOP ON 
THE BASIS OF POLITICAL VIEWS AGAINST THE WILL OF HIS FLOCK, 
HE WOULD RISK PROVOKING A SCHISM, WITH NO GUARANTEE THAT THE 
POPE'S VIEWS WOULD PREVAIL.  THE VATICAN SEEKS TO AVOID SUCH 
AN INJURY TO THE "FAMILY" OF THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH AT ALMOST 
ANY COST. 
 
4. (SBU) IN RECENT HISTORY, THE POPE HAS EXCOMMUNICATED A 
BISHOP ONLY FOR DOCTRINAL DIFFERENCES, NOT POLITICAL ONES. 
FOR EXAMPLE, IN 1988 ULTRA-CONSERVATIVE FRENCH PRELATE, 
MARCEL LEFEBVRE WAS EXCOMMUNICATED "AUTOMATICALLY" FOR 
ORDAINING NEW BISHOPS FOR HIS BREAK-AWAY GROUP OF CATHOLICS 
WITHOUT THE REQUIRED PERMISSION OF THE POPE.  ANOTHER 
EXAMPLE OF CHURCH DISCIPLINE WAS THE BREAKUP OF THE SAO 
PAOLO DIOCESE IN 1989 INTO FOUR SEPARATE DIOCESES.  THE POPE 
AND HIS CURIA UNILATERALLY DECLARED THE BREAKUP AND 
INSTALLATION OF THREE ADDITIONAL (AND MORE CONSERVATIVE) 
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PAGE 04        VATICA  03636  01 OF 02  231501Z 
BISHOPS WHEN ARCHBISHOP OF SAO PAOLO EVARISTO ARNS REFUSED 
TO BACK DOWN FROM HIS STRONG SUPPORT FOR LIBERATION 
THEOLOGY. 
 
5. (SBU)  MORE FREQUENTLY, THE VATICAN HAS HAD LIMITED 
ABILITY IN CHANGING POLITICAL POSITIONS OF ITS BISHOPS.  IN 
2001, FOR EXAMPLE, THE CROATIAN BISHOPS CONFERENCE'S PUBLIC 
CRITICISM OF THE DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED AND REFORM-ORIENTED 
GOVERNMENT OF STIPE MESIC, PRESENTED A THREAT TO THE 
VATICAN'S BROADER INTEREST IN REGIONAL RECONCILIATION AND 
STABILITY.  THE NUNCIO IN ZAGREB WAS CHARGED WITH CONVEYING 
THE HOLY SEE'S "CEASE AND DESIST" ORDER TO THE CROATIAN 
BISHOPS.  WHEN THAT DIDN'T CHANGE THE LATTER'S ANTI- 
GOVERNMENT COMMENTARY, THE SECRETARIAT OF STATE DISPATCHED 
FM EQUIVALENT ARCHBISHOP TAURAN TO ZAGREB TO PRESS THE 
POINT.  TAURAN LEFT A PRO MEMORIA WITH THE CROATIAN BISHOPS 
-- AN ESPECIALLY STRONG INDICATION OF THE HOLY SEE'S 
INTEREST IN THE ISSUE (REFTEL). THE POPE, HOWEVER, DID NOT 
PUBLICLY CENSURE THE LOCAL BISHOPS.  THAT HE DIDN'T 
UNDERSCORES THE PRIMARY INTEREST IN PROTECTING THE OUTWARD 
 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
                           UNCLASSIFIED     PTQ4215 
 
PAGE 01        VATICA  03636  02 OF 02  231502Z 
ACTION EUR-00 
 
INFO  LOG-00   NP-00    AMAD-00  ACQ-00   CIAE-00  INL-00   DODE-00 
      DS-00    UTED-00  VC-00    TEDE-00  INR-00   IO-00    LAB-01 
      VCE-00   NSAE-00  TEST-00  DSCC-00  DRL-02   SAS-00     /003W 
                  ------------------CF179B  231503Z /38 
R 231500Z JUL 02 
FM AMEMBASSY VATICAN 
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 
HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION COLLECTIVE 
 
UNCLAS SECTION 02 OF 02 VATICAN 003636 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT. EUR/WE (MENNUTI) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, VT 
SUBJECT: THE LIMITS OF VATICAN PERSUASION ON BISHOPS' 
POLITICAL VIEWS 
 
UNITY OF THE CHURCH AND THE SECURITY OF THE FAITHFUL IN 
THOSE COUNTRIES WHERE CATHOLICS ARE A MINORITY (IN THIS 
CASE, IN NEIGHBORING BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA). 
 
6. (SBU) COMMENT:  WHEN CONFRONTED WITH A BISHOP WHOSE VIEWS 
GO AGAINST THE GRAIN OF THE HOLY SEE'S VIEWS ON SECULAR 
POLITICAL ISSUES, THE HOLY SEE WILL ALWAYS ASSESS ITS OWN 
BIG PICTURE OF FAITH, MORALS, DOCTRINE AND THE WELL-BEING OF 
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PAGE 02        VATICA  03636  02 OF 02  231502Z 
ITS FAITHFUL IN JUDGING WHETHER AND HOW TO INTERVENE.  THE 
HOLY SEE WILL ALMOST ALWAYS CHOOSE TO ACT BEHIND THE SCENES, 
APPROACHING AN OUTSPOKEN BISHOP THROUGH HIS COLLEAGUES IN 
THE LOCAL BISHOPS' CONFERENCE AND/OR THE LOCAL NUNCIO.  IN 
CASES WHERE BISHOPS OF OTHER CHURCH REPRESENTATIVES 
ARTICULATE VIEWS SEEN AS DAMAGING TO U.S. INTERESTS, 
EMBASSIES SHOULD SEEK TO DEVELOP GOOD AVENUES OF 
COMMUNICATION WITH THE RESIDENT NUNCIO AND THE NATIONAL 
BISHOPS THEMSELVES.  EMBASSY VATICAN WOULD ALSO BE PREPARED 
TO APPROACH THE SECRETARIAT OF STATE AT THE HOLY SEE AND TO 
ADVISE POSTS ON HOW BEST TO ADVANCE U.S. VIEWS IN THE FACE 
OF OUTSPOKEN OPPOSITION FROM LOCAL BISHOPS. 
 
NICHOLSON 
 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
> 
 

 2002VATICA03636 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED