“And it works both ways. The Pope himself sees the benefits derived from the diplomatic service.”
‘John Paul also took unprecedented step of naming an American President of the Academy. Archbishop Justin Rigali of Los Angeles sees his appointment as another sign of the Pope’s desire to open the church hierarchy to the non-Italian, non-European world.
“That an American might be chosen is certainly in the overall strategy of the internationalization of the curia,” Rigali said in a recent interview.
The Pontifical Ecclesiastical ‘Academy used to be a first step on the long road to a cardinal’s red hat, Today students can expect a dozen years in places like Khartoum or Baghdad.
The academy, in the heart of Rome overlooking the church where Galileo was tried for heresy, trains the tiny diplomatic corps of the Holy See.
Before the mid1960’s, when the Second Vatican Council propelled the Roman Catholic church into the modern world, the school was a breeding ground for Italian popes and cardinals, Pope Paul VI and Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Agostino Casaroli both studied at the academy.
Many of its students were from wealthy Italian families, a holdover from the academy’s beginnings at the turn of the 17th century when it served as a posh seminary for young noblemen.
‘Although the flavour of its gentle past remains in the marble floors, crystal chandeliers and a simple but elegant two room suites students occupy graduates know their first assignments as Vatican diplomats will be in remote outpost.
‘Working as a combination secretary, administrator and corhpanion to the local nuncio, as a Vatican calls its ambassadors, neophyte diplomats after also have to be practical Jack-of-all-trades, seeing that electricity functions or helping household staff secure food.
‘Only after ten to twelve years out of the way spots can graduates think about returning to the first world, Nuncio positions rarely come before nearly two decades of experience.
Although the most dramatic changes at the school were brought about by the Second Vatican Council, Pope John Paul II’s arrival in 1978 also brought important innovations.
As a first non-Italian Pope in more than four hundred. years, John Paul moved quickly to make the Vatican less Italian and more involved in the secular world.
“The Pope’s political interests give the Academy a greater esprit de corps,” one source said. “You can see a greater interest in diplomacy in general on the part of the Pope himself and the Holy see.
“The American experience of iz international, of coming from an environment where many backgrounds live together, is something special,” he said,
But even though the church under John Paul has been increasingly wading in to the secular political sphere mediating the Beagal Channel dispute between Chili and Argentina, helping out former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Mar cos, waging a war of words with the Sandinista Government in Nicargua Vatican diplomats to best are trained principally in traditional church studies.
Students spend at least two years at the Academy and to graduate, they need the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree in Canon Law and a doctorate in some ecclesiastical science like Canon Law, Theology, or scripture.
‘Much of their course work involves studying the history of Vatican diplomacy and learning the intricacies and subtleties of the style of Vatican documents, still written in Latin.
A total of 31 students from twelve countries are now at the Academy, including seven Italians, six Americans, four Poles, and three Spaniards, two each from France, India and Zaire, and one each from Kenya, Australia, Malta, Vietnam and Mexico.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 21, 1986
