US embassy cable - 05VATICAN552

C O N F I D E N T I A L  VATICAN 000552 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT. FOR EUR/WE (JLARREA), WHA/MEX 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  12/12/2015 
TAGS: KIRF, PHUM, PREL, VT, MX 
SUBJECT: IMMIGRATION ON FRONT BURNER FOR MEXICAN BISHOPS, VATICAN 
 
REF: MEXICO 6856 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Peter Martin, Pol/Econ Chief, Vatican, State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
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Summary 
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1.  (C)  Holy See Country Director for the U.S. and Mexico Paolo 
Gualtieri received with interest points on the President's plans 
for immigration reform and applauded the President's initiative 
in tackling the problem.  He told us that every group of Mexican 
bishops visiting the Vatican this fall had raised the issue of 
immigration, and had bemoaned especially the social disruption 
that occurred with the separation of families.  This attention 
to immigration is indicative of strong Vatican interest in the 
issue.  The Ambassador has found eager interlocutors on the 
subject when he has engaged top Holy See officials and 
Vatican-based diplomats.  Post will continue to explore ways in 
which USG interests coincide with Vatican concerns on the issue. 
 On the Mexican bishops' political and social involvement, 
Gualtieri agreed with reftel that the bishops were becoming more 
active on social issues recently.  He felt that over the past 
ten years clergy were starting to feel better able to play a 
role in the public square, but that there was still a "long way 
to go" before some in Mexico overcame the anti-clericalism that 
had kept priests marginalized.  Gualtieri saw no danger that 
bishops or clergy would "take sides" in partisan political 
battles.  End summary. 
 
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Immigration Concerns 
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2.  (C)  Post passed Holy See Country Director for the U.S. and 
Mexico Monsignor Paolo Gualtieri points on the President's plans 
for immigration reform after Gualtieri expressed an interest in 
the issue to us.  Gualtieri did not comment substantively on the 
plan's details, but he applauded the President's initiative in 
tackling the problem.  He noted that immigration had been on the 
minds of the Mexican bishops in their quinquennial "ad limina" 
visits to Rome this fall.  [Note: bishops worldwide visit the 
Vatican once every five years to consult on relevant issues. 
End note.]  "Every group of bishops [that came to visit the 
Foreign Ministry] raised the issue of immigration," Gualtieri 
said.  They bemoaned the separation of families they said 
occurred when husbands emigrated to the U.S., leaving wives and 
children behind.  The bishops said that men would frequently 
begin by sending money back home, but often they would 
eventually take up with new partners and start new lives in the 
U.S., leaving broken and destitute families behind. Gualtieri 
said the bishops had described some villages where 30 percent of 
the married women had been abandoned.  Mexican FM Derbez raised 
the same issue to Holy See FM Lajolo in his recent visit to the 
Vatican, according to Gualtieri. 
 
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Mexican Bishops More Involved 
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3.  (C)  Turning to the Church's political and social 
involvement, Gualtieri agreed with reftel that the Mexican 
bishops were becoming more active on social issues recently.  He 
also echoed reftel in noting that events such as the Mexican 
government's making the "morning-after-pill" widely available 
and free of cost had spurred some prelates to more vocal 
activism.  Gualtieri said that the past ten years had seen an 
easing of de facto restrictions upon clergy speaking out on 
ethical and moral issues.  "There's still a long way to go," he 
cautioned.  Gualtieri said that the Holy See was still concerned 
that clergy continued to be unable to play a helpful role in the 
armed forces, health care, and the mass media, for example. 
 
4.  (C)  As far as a more direct role in politics, Gualtieri is 
convinced that the bishops will limit their input to 
encouragement to the political parties to address the real 
concerns of the people during the electoral campaign.  "They'll 
be careful not to take sides," he insisted.  Gualtieri said the 
clergy knew that if they did more they could easily provoke a 
backlash against the Church. When asked if the bishops might 
play a useful role as a peacemaker in the aftermath of close and 
bitter elections, Gualtieri said it was possible, but warned 
that many bishops would be reluctant even then to step into what 
could be a political minefield. 
 
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Comment 
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5.  (C)  Gualtieri's comments on the social/political activity 
of the Mexican bishops track closely with reftel.  His interest 
in the President's immigration initiative and the attention paid 
to the issue by the bishops on their "ad limina" visits is 
indicative of strong Vatican and Catholic Church interest in the 
issue.  The Ambassador has found eager interlocutors when he has 
engaged top Holy See officials and Vatican-based diplomats on 
the subject.  Mary Ann Glendon, President of the Pontifical 
Academy of Social Sciences, moreover, told him December 12 that 
the Mexican Bishops' Conference had invited the Academy to 
organize a conference on migration this spring in Mexico.  Post 
will continue to explore ways in which USG interests coincide 
with Vatican concerns on the issue. 
 
 
SANDROLINI 
ROONEY 
 
 
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 2005VATICA00552 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL