HOLY SEE: HIGH-LEVEL ATTENDANCE AT UNGA

UNCLAS VATICAN 000190 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL OVIP UNGA VT SUBJECT: HOLY SEE: HIGH-LEVEL ATTENDANCE AT UNGA REF: STATE 112656 ¶1. (SBU) During a September 8 meeting, DCM learned from Monsignor Pietro Parolin, the Holy See's deputy foreign minister, that the Holy See would be represented at the UNGA by Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo. Lajolo is currently the Secretary for Relations with States (foreign minister),but as was announced months ago, he will vacate that position on September 15, when he assumes the presidency of the Governatorato (which administers the operations of the Vatican City State). ¶2. (SBU) Parolin said he and other members of the curia still do not know who will succeed Lajolo on September 15, but as that person is very likely to be a papal nuncio, he will most likely require several weeks to wind up operations wherever he is and will probably not be able to take up the reins as foreign minister until mid-October. ¶3. (SBU) Cardinal Bertone, who will become the Holy See's Secretary of State (prime minister) on September 15, will not go SIPDIS to the UNGA. ¶4. (SBU) Parolin said that Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Holy See's Permanent Observer to the UN in New York, will be the primary point of contact for any arrangements for meetings between Lajolo and senior US officials during the UNGA. ROONEY