- Nunciature of the Holy See in Washington DC
The Nunciature to the United States of America is an ecclesiastical office of the
Roman Catholic Church in theUnited States . It is adiplomat ic post of theHoly See , whose representative is called the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States with the rank ofambassador . Thenuncio is consecratedarchbishop and after his period of service as Nuncio has ended historically has been elevated to the rank of Cardinal inconsistory .The Apostolic Nunciature is an administrative center of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. Communications from the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the various dioceses in the United States to the Holy See pass through the nunciature. The nuncio also fills a central role in the appointment ofbishop s to episcopal offices in the country, and is the official responsible for making the announcement of an episcopal appointment.The physical building which houses the offices of the apostolic nuncio and his staff is also called the Nunciature to the United States of America. Its official name is the Embassy of the Apostolic Nunciature of the Holy See. Located at 3339 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008, it is considered an informal
diocese of its own.Fact|date=October 2007History
The
nunciature was established as the Delegation to the United States of America onJanuary 24 ,1893 with offices in the City of Washington in the District of Columbia led by an apostolic delegate. It was the result of an effort by the Holy See to establish communication between thePope and thePresident of the United States . Formal relations however were not established untilJanuary 10 ,1984 when the delegation was elevated to the rank of nunciature. The establishment of an embassy in the City of Washington was the result of an increased friendship ofPope John Paul II and President Ronald Reagan.taff
The staff of the nunciature includes the permanent and alternative observer to the
Organization of American States .Apostolic Delegate
The Holy See did not have official ties with the United States and its mission was headed by an
apostolic delegate without the rank of ambassador. Apostolic delegates, unlike apostolic nuncios, exercise only ecclesiastical functions of oversight over the Catholic hierarchy of the coutry to which they were sent, while apostolic nuncios have the added responsibility of also acting as ambassadors of the Holy See before the government of the country where they serve. There were instances in which two official delegates served at the same time.#
Francesco Cardinal Satolli ,January 14 ,1893 to 1896
#Sebastiano Cardinal Martinelli , OSA,April 18 ,1896 to 1902
# Diomede Angelo Raffaele Gennaro Cardinal Falconio, OFM,September 30 ,1902 to 1911
# Giovanni Vincenzo Cardinal Bonzano,February 2 ,1912 to 1922
# Pietro Cardinal Fumasoni Biondi,December 14 ,1922 toMarch 16 ,1933
#Amleto Giovanni Cardinal Cicognani ,March 17 ,1933 toNovember 14 ,1959
#Egidio Cardinal Vagnozzi ,December 16 ,1958 toJanuary 13 ,1968
#Luigi Cardinal Raimondi ,June 30 ,1967 toMarch 21 ,1973
#Archbishop Jean Jadot ,May 23 ,1973 toJune 27 ,1980
# Pio Cardinal Laghi,December 10 ,1980 toJanuary 9 ,1984 Apostolic Pro-Nuncio
The first Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to the United States, Archbishop (later Cardinal)
Pio Laghi , presented his credentials as Vatican (technically Holy See) ambassador to the United States in 1984 after the Holy See and the United States established full diplomatic relations. His title was pro-nuncio because at the time the Vatican gave the title of nuncio only to its ambassadors who enjoyed the rank ofdean of the diplomatic corps to a country.#
Pio Cardinal Laghi ,March 26 ,1984 toApril 6 ,1990
#Agostino Cardinal Cacciavillan ,June 13 ,1990 toNovember 5 ,1998 Apostolic Nuncio
In 1990 and 1991 the Vatican quietly began to use the title of nuncio instead of pro-nuncio for its ambassadors who were not the deans of a country's ambassadorial corps, but it retained the pro-nuncio title for all those already appointed. In 1998, when President Bill Clinton accepted the credentials of Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo Higuera as the third Vatican ambassador to the United States, he held the title of Apostolic Nuncio. Since 1993 the official Vatican yearbook, the Annuario Pontificio, has included an asterisk behind the title of those nuncios "che (per ora) non sono Decani del Corpo Diplomatico" -- "who (for now) are not deans of the diplomatic corps."
#Gabriel Montalvo Higuera ,December 7 ,1998 toDecember 17 ,2005
#Pietro Sambi ,December 17 ,2005 to Presentee also
*
List of the Roman Catholic bishops of the United States
*List of the Roman Catholic cathedrals of the United States
*List of the Roman Catholic dioceses of the United States
*United States Ambassadors to the Holy See
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