Nuncios Draw the Vatican’s Attention
Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Metropolitan Archbishop of Bombay
Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias chairs a select study group charged with developing the function of Apostolic Nuncio in line with the orientations of the Synod. Underlying this is the reform of the Holy See's diplomats, considered by Pope Francis as a separate and independent group within the Curia.
One reform can hide another, especially when the first draws the attention. Until the interview given by Cardinal Oswald Gracias to the religious news website Crux on September 17, 2024, which was picked up by several Catholic media outlets, few people had paid much attention to Apostolic Nuncios, one of the ten study groups that emerged in the wake of the October 2023 Synod assembly.
“During the synod we noticed that there were so many topics being spoken about, [...] important topics,” the Metropolitan Archbishop of Bombay explains. “However, we wanted to focus on synodality and were worried how to bring back synodality in the discussions. All the other points were also important,” he says, revealing the difficulties that arose during the last session.
“Then the Holy Father also wanted some points to be discussed,” the senior prelate continues, listing among them “the whole function of the Nuncio. That is the reason for this study group.” He was selected as the head of this group, as a Cardinal.
In addition to Cardinal Gracias, another Cardinal is involved with this group: Cardinal Mario Grech. Secretary General of the Synod, he is the man Francis trusts to implement the Synod's agenda. As well as two archbishops: Archbishop Luciano Russo, Secretary of the Third Section of the Secretariat of State for the Diplomatic Staff of the Holy See, and Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio, President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, the school for Nuncios located near Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome.
The Apostolic Nuncios have been in Pope Francis’ “sights” since the beginning of his pontificate, as he often considers them to be a separate body, cultivating a certain degree of autonomy that does not suit the Argentine Pontiff’s personality. On June 13, 2019, Francis had told the Nuncios at a meeting:
“If a Nuncio shut himself up in the nunciature and avoided meeting people, he would betray his mission and, instead of being a facilitator of communion and reconciliation, he would become an obstacle and an impediment. You must never forget that you represent the face of the Church to the local Churches throughout the world, and to governments. [...]
“It is therefore irreconcilable to be a papal representative and to criticize the Pope behind his back, to blog or even to unite with groups that are hostile to him, to the Curia and to the Church of Rome. [...]
“A Nuncio who does not live the virtue of obedience—even when it appears difficult and contrary to one's own personal vision—is like a traveler who loses his compass, risking missing the goal. Let's always remember the saying ‘Medice, cura te ipsum.’ It is a counter-witness to call others to obedience and to disobey.”
These words speak for themselves and give an idea of the atmosphere that can reign behind the Leonine Walls. Which puts Cardinal Gracias' words into perspective:
“One is that the Holy Father has been insisting and rightly so, to a dual role. [...] Missionary in the sense maybe to encourage the bishops, to help them and see how the Church’s mission can be furthered [...] considering synodality, they [Nuncios] should not be totally independent [...] The Nuncios come from outside and don’t know the local culture [...] That is the necessity for the Synodal view that they should not be independent of the local Church.”
The senior prelate confirms that the final results of the working group should be communicated by June 2025 at the latest, but the direction of the reform is already discernible: towards a dilution which, according to the most critical voices, risks damaging the capital of trust inspired until now by these men of the shadows who embody the continuity of the Holy See's millenary diplomacy.
At the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, as on the Terza Loggia—the third floor of the Apostolic Palace, where the offices of the Secretariat of State are located.
(Sources : Crux/Vatican.va – FSSPX.Actualités)
Illustration : archdiocese of Bombay