BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ON GIOVANNI LAJOLO - HOLY

UNCLAS VATICAN 004649

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

DEPT. FOR EUR/WE (LEVIN) AND INR/B

E.O. 12958 N/A
TAGS: PREL PINR VT
SUBJECT: BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ON GIOVANNI LAJOLO - HOLY
SEE'S NEW FOREIGN MINISTER



1. (U) POPE JOHN PAUL II HAS APPOINTED HIS NUNCIO TO
GERMANY, ARCHBISHOP GIOVANNI LAJOLO, AS SECRETARY OF THE
SECTION FOR RELATIONS WITH STATE OF THE SECRETARIAT OF
STATE, THE HOLY SEE'S EQUIVALENT OF FOREIGN MINISTER. THE
OCTOBER 7 APPOINTMENT TAKES EFFECT IMMEDIATELY. LAJOLO
SUCCEEDS ARCHBISHOP JEAN-LOUIS TAURAN, WHOM POPE JOHN PAUL
II WILL CREATE A CARDINAL AT A VATICAN CITY CEREMONY ON
OCTOBER 21. LAJOLO'S APPOINTMENT IS EXPECTED TO PROVIDE
CONTINUITY FOR THE VATICAN'S FOREIGN POLICY. LAJALO'S
MOTHER WAS AMERICAN, AND HE IS CONSIDERED FAVORABLY
DISPOSED TO THE UNITED STATES.


2. (U) LAJOLO (LA-YO-LO) WAS BORN IN THE NORTHERN ITALIAN
CITY OF NOVARA ON JANUARY 3, 1935, AND ORDAINED A PRIEST ON
APRIL 29. 1960. AFTER WORKING IN THE DIOCESE OF NOVARA,
LAJOLO ENTERED THE HOLY SEE'S PRESTIGIOUS DIPLOMATIC
SCHOOL, THE PONTIFICAL ECCLESIASTICAL ACADEMY, IN 1968 AND
OBTAINED A DOCTORATE IN CANON LAW (CHURCH LAW). HE ENTERED
THE HOLY SEE'S FOREIGN SERVICE IN 1970. ARCHBISHOP LAJOLO
HAS SERVED AT THE NUNCIATURE IN GERMANY AND AT THE HOLY
SEE'S FOREIGN MINISTRY. THE FUTURE ARCHBISHOP WAS A
PROFESSOR AT THE PONTIFICAL ECCLESIASTICAL ACADEMY FROM
1985 UNTIL 1989. IN 1988 HE WAS APPOINTED SECRETARY (NUMBER
2 POSITION) OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE PATRIMONY OF THE
HOLY SEE (ADMINISTERS THE PROPERTIES OWNED BY THE HOLY SEE
IN ORDER TO PROVIDE THE FUNDS NECESSARY FOR THE ROMAN CURIA
TO FUNCTION). HE WAS ORDAINED AN ARCHBISHOP IN 1989. POPE
JOHN PAUL II APPOINTED LAJOLO AS NUNCIO TO GERMANY IN 1995,
WHERE HE HAS GENERALLY AVOIDED THE LIMELIGHT. APART FROM
HIS NATIVE ITALIAN, THE ARCHBISHOP SPEAKS ENGLISH, FRENCH
AND GERMAN.


3. (U) LAJOLO WAS THE HOLY SEE'S POINT MAN DURING THE 2000
CONFRONTATION WITH GERMAN CATHOLICS OVER CHURCH-BASED
COUNSELING CENTERS PROVIDING CERTIFICATES LATER USED TO
PROCURE ABORTIONS. THE VATICAN ORDERED GERMANY'S BISHOPS
TO DROP PREGNANCY COUNSELING FROM THE SERVICES PROVIDED BY
THE CENTERS TO PREVENT CHURCH INVOLVEMENT IN STATE-PROVIDED
ABORTIONS.


4. (SBU) GERMAN EMBASSY DCM, WHO MET WITH LAJOLO BEFORE
BEGINNING HIS ASSIGNMENT DESCRIBED HIM AS SOMEONE WHO HOLDS
HIS CARDS VERY CLOSE TO HIS CHEST. ONE CURRENT SECRETARIAT
OF STATE OFFICIAL WHO STUDIED UNDER LAJOLO FOR THREE YEARS
AT THE HOLY SEE'S ECCLESIASTICAL ACADEMY -- THE VATICAN'S
DIPLOMATIC TRAINING SCHOOL -- SAID HE HAD NO IDEA WHERE
LAJOLO STOOD PERSONALLY ON MOST ISSUES. AS NUNCIO IN
GERMANY, LAJOLO WAS DEEPLY INVOLVED IN THE SELECTION OF
GERMAN BISHOPS, BUT HIS INVOLVEMENT ON BROADER
INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ISSUES WOULD HAVE BEEN LIMITED.


5. (SBU) ONE JOURNALIST WHO HAS RECENTLY INTERVIEWED LAJOLO
TOLD US THAT LAJOLO'S MOTHER WAS AMERICAN, HAVING MOVED TO
THE U.S. AS A CHILD. SHE WAS RAISED THERE AND RETURNED TO
ITALY, BUT RETAINED HER CITIZENSHIP THROUGHOUT HER LIFE.
LAJOLO REPORTEDLY TRAVELED WITHIN THE U.S. TWENTY YEARS AGO
-- POSSIBLY ON AN INTERNATIONAL VISITOR PROGRAM -- AND HE
HAS KEPT UP HIS TIES IN THE U.S. HIS DEPUTY IN BERLIN FOR
HIS EIGHT YEARS AS NUNCIO WAS AN AMERICAN FROM SIOUX FALLS,
SOUTH DAKOTA. THE JOURNALIST DESCRIBED LAJOLO AS OPEN TO
AND "VERY FRIENDLY TOWARD" THE U.S.

NICHOLSON

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2003VATICA04649 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED