US embassy cable - 02VATICAN5404

UNCLAS VATICAN 005404 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT. FOR EUR/WE (MENNUTI) 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINR, VT, UN 
SUBJECT:  HOLY SEE NOMINATES NEW VATICAN PERMANENT OBSERVER 
TO THE U.N.: BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ON CELESTINO MIGLIORE 
 
REFS: A) VATICAN 4398,  B) VATICAN 4388 
 
1. (U) POPE JOHN PAUL II HAS APPOINTED UNDERSECRETARY FOR 
RELATIONS WITH STATES (DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER) MONSIGNOR 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
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CELESTINO MIGLIORE TO BE THE HOLY SEE'S PERMANENT OBSERVER 
AT THE UNITED NATIONS IN NEW YORK.  MIGLIORE REPLACES 
ARCHBISHOP RENATO MARTINO WHO RETURNS TO ROME TO TAKE UP A 
SENIOR CURIA POSITION.  MIGLIORE WILL BE ORDAINED AS AN 
ARCHBISHOP BEFORE TAKING UP HIS POSTING TO NEW YORK. 
 
2.   (U) CELESTINO MIGLIORE WAS BORN IN CUNEO, IN PIEDMONT 
PROVINCE, IN THE NORTH OF ITALY IN 1950.  AFTER HIS 
ORDINATION AS A CATHOLIC PRIEST HE TOOK UP GRADUATE STUDIES 
IN CANON LAW AND DIPLOMACY AND ENTERED THE HOLY SEE'S 
DIPLOMATIC SERVICE IN 1980.  MIGLIORE SERVED AT HOLY SEE 
NUNCIATURES IN ANGOLA, THE U.S., EGYPT, AND POLAND. IN 1992 
HE WAS APPOINTED AS THE HOLY SEE'S PERMANENT OBSERVER TO THE 
COUNCIL OF EUROPE IN STRASBOURG.  HE RETURNED TO ROME IN 
1995 UPON HIS APPOINTMENT AS UNDERSECRETARY OF THE SECTION 
FOR RELATIONS WITH STATES (AT THE VATICAN'S SECRETARIAT OF 
STARE. HE SPEAKS ITALIAN, ENGLISH, FRENCH, SPANISH AND 
PORTUGUESE. 
 
3.   (SBU) MIGLIORE HAS BEEN ONE OF POST'S MOST OPEN, 
ARTICULATE, AND FRIENDLY INTERLOCUTORS.  MORE SO THAN MANY 
OTHER VATICAN OFFICIALS, HE HAS BEEN WILLING TO ACT TO 
RESOLVE PROBLEMS OR ADVANCE POLICY, SOMETIMES DEFYING THE 
HOLY SEE'S TRADITIONAL CAUTION.  HE WAS, FOR EXAMPLE, 
INSTANTLY AND POSITIVELY DISPOSED TO WORKING WITH POST AND 
OTHER DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS TO ORGANIZE AND HOST AN 
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS WHEN 
OTHERS IN THE HOLY SEE WERE MORE HESITANT.  THIS "CAN DO" 
ATTITUDE SHOULD STAND HIM WELL IN HIS UPCOMING 
RESPONSIBILITIES IN THE U.N.  THIS IS NOT TO SAY, HOWEVER, 
THAT MIGLIORE THINKS LIKE AN AMERICAN.  HE IS ITALIAN, AND 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
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SEES THE WORLD THROUGH A EUROPEAN FILTER, WHICH HAS LED HIM 
AT TIMES TO BE CRITICAL OF OR SKEPTICAL TOWARD ASPECTS OF 
U.S. POLICIES.  FOR EXAMPLE, IN AN EARLY OCTOBER 2001 
DISCUSSION WITH POLOFF ABOUT THE U.S. RESPONSE TO THE 
ATTACKS OF SEPTEMBER 11, MIGLIORE POINTEDLY NOTED THAT 
"AFTER ALL, BIN LADEN IS A U.S. CREATION" (NOTE: REFERRING 
TO U.S. ASSISTANCE TO ISLAMIC MUJAHADIN IN AFGHANISTAN IN 
THE 1980'S.)  LIKEWISE, IN DISCUSSIONS ABOUT BIOTECH FOODS, 
HE HAS ASSERTED THE VIEW THAT U.S. POLICY IN ZAMBIA IS 
DRIVEN BY ECONOMIC, RATHER THAN HUMANITARIAN, INTERESTS. 
 
4. (SBU) MIGLIORE'S VIEWS ON IRAQ AND THE MIDDLE EAST ARE 
REPORTED IN DETAIL IN REFTELS.  MIGLIORE HAS MADE CLEAR THAT 
HE IS "NO FAN OF IRAQ," BUT DOES NOT YET BELIEVE THE U.S. 
HAS YET MADE THE CASE FOR PREEMPTIVE MILITARY ACTION. 
 
5. (SBU)  MIGLIORE, AS DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER EQUIVALENT AT 
THE VATICAN, NECESSARILY COVERED A GLOBAL RANGE OF FOREIGN 
POLICY ISSUES.  WHETHER BY CHOICE OR CIRCUMSTANCE, IN THE 
LAST YEAR HE HAS TAKEN A PARTICULAR INTEREST IN A FEW AREAS: 
THE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN NORTH KOREA (HE HAS TRAVELED 
THERE FIVE TIMES IN RECENT YEARS), THE CHURCH'S POSITION IN 
RUSSIA WHERE HE RECENTLY TRAVELED TO DISCUSS GOR'S REFUSAL 
OF VISAS TO CATHOLIC CLERGY, AND THE CHURCH'S DIFFICULT 
RELATIONS WITH VIETNAM.  ALL IN ALL, MIGLIORE CAN BE COUNTED 
ON TO BE AN OPEN, SOMETIMES UNVARNISHED, BUT ALSO CAREFUL 
AND DELIBERATE INTERLOCUTOR AT THE U.N.  HE CERTAINLY ENJOYS 
THE CONFIDENCE OF FOREIGN MINISTER TAURAN AND THE POPE 
HIMSELF. 
 
6.  (U)  ARCHBISHOP-DESIGNATE MIGLIORE WILL STEP INTO THE 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
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SHOES OF THE ABLE RENATO MARTINO, THE VATICAN'S 
REPRESENTATIVE AT THE U.N. FOR THE LAST 16 YEARS. IT WAS 
MARTINO'S LEADERSHIP THAT STEERED THE HOLY SEE DELEGATIONS 
TO SELF-PROCLAIMED SUCCESS AT U.N. CONFERENCES IN RIO DE 
JANEIRO IN 1992, CAIRO IN 1994, BEIJING IN 1995 AND THE MORE 
RECENT 2002 CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN 
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA. MARTINO'S 40 YEARS IN THE 
SERVICE OF VATICAN DIPLOMACY, IN PLACES AS FAR APART AS 
SINGAPORE AND LEBANON, PROVIDED HIM WITH A UNIQUE 
PREPARATION FOR HIS TIME AT THE U.N.  MARTINO WAS CONSTANTLY 
IN THE NEWS, BOTH SECULAR AND ECCLESIASTICAL. HE ALSO SPENT 
A GREAT DEAL OF TIME PROMOTING THE HOLY SEE'S DIPLOMATIC 
INITIATIVES AT THE U.N. DURING VISITS ABROAD. IN FACT, 
ARCHBISHOP MARTINO'S EFFORTS HAVE TURNED THE PERMANENT 
OBSERVER POST INTO A KEY VENUE FOR THE HOLY SEE TO PROJECT 
ITS MESSAGE.  MIGLIORE INHERITS THE PRESTIGE, BUT ALSO THE 
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE POST.  THE FACT THAT POPE JOHN PAUL 
CHOSE MIGLIORE TO BE THE HOLY SEE' PERMANENT OBSERVER AT THE 
U.N. SHOWS THE HOLY SEE WANTS ITS BEST DIPLOMATIC HAND 
PLAYED AT THIS KEY INTERNATIONAL TABLE. 
 
NICHOLSON 
 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
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 2002VATICA05404 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED