US diplomats seem bemused with the
hierarchical structures and the lack of sophistication within the
Vatican.
Not only do most Catholic Church leaders lack an e-mail
account, only a few "are aware of imminent decisions."
A month after the German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected pope
in the Sistine Chapel, on April 19, 2005, the US Embassy to the Vatican
sent a cable to the State Department in Washington providing its first
readings on what the United States and the world at large should expect
from the new head of the Roman Catholic Church.
Pope Benedict XVI had been one of the closest associates of his
predecessor, Pope John Paul II.
According to America's local Vatican
watchers, it was "unthinkable" that he would at all deviate from the
former's strict stances regarding ethical issues, such as abortion,
euthanasia, contraception, cloning or homosexuality.
The profile drawn up by the embassy noted that the new pope had no
political experience and that, owing to his age, he couldn't afford the
luxury of acquiring it.
But US diplomats in the Vatican could not
complain about being underemployed.
During the last 10 years, they've
sent a total of 729 cables back to the State Department.
Sometimes, they merely tried to explain to the State Department how
the Vatican functioned -- and in reports that depict a very curious
world, indeed. According to a dispatch from 2009, although the church
was "highly hierarchical," it was also chaotic.
Likewise, it was usually
the case that "only a handful of experts are aware of imminent
decisions" and they normally just acquiesce to whatever their boss
decides.
If fact, the report continued, hardly anyone ever dared to
criticize the pope or to deliver bad news to him. It was rare to find
independent-minded advisers, they wrote.
Communication in 'Coded Language'
The Vatican's innermost circle is almost exclusively made up of
Italian men in their 70s.
The Americans wryly note that "most of the top
ranks of the Vatican ... do not understand modern media and new
information technologies," and that "many officials do not even have
official email accounts."
They also note how the Cardinal Secretary of
State, the name given to the Holy See's equivalent of a prime minister,
doesn't even speak English and was also considered a "yes man."
Those closest to the pope communicate among themselves "in 'coded'
language that no-one outside their tight circles can decipher."
The
American diplomats joke, for example, about how the Israeli ambassador
recently received a message from the Vatican that reportedly included
something positive about his country.
But since the message was written
in such impenetrable language, the ambassador "missed it, even when told
it was there."
Washington also seems to be particularly interested in the Roman
Curia, the administrative apparatus of the Vatican, and its policies
toward the Asia states it is currently at loggerheads with, including
North Korea, Burma, Vietnam and, in particular, China.
In a cable
classified "secret" from Dec. 7, 2009, the embassy provides a detailed
report on the activities of Caritas Internationalis, the confederation
of Catholic aid organizations under Vatican control, in countries such
as China, North Korea and Burma.
Working Quietly in
China
and
North Korea
The regimes in these countries tolerate the work of Caritas within
their borders, at least periodically, because they need the assistance.
Even in North Korea, the organization quietly carries on with its
charity work, which includes administering two Vatican-financed
hospitals.
The US Embassy devoted a whole series of reports to the Vatican's
relationship with China. Relations are reportedly very sensitive because
there are two Catholic churches competing with each other in the
People's Republic.
On the one hand, there is the "patriotic" church
supported by the communist regime. And, on the other, there is the
underground church that is still loyal to Rome and is now tolerated by
Beijing following years of persecution.
According to a senior Caritas official, the organization works with
both churches.
The Chinese government is aware of this, the official
added, but the authorities still just "look the other way" whenever
Caritas workers cooperate with members of the underground church.
Stonewalling the UN's Top Prosecutor
Thanks to its good ties to high-ranking Vatican officials, the US
Embassy was able to provide an early and detailed warning to diplomatic
headquarters back in Washington about a looming scandal involving Carla
del Ponte, the Swiss woman who was then the chief UN war crimes
prosecutor at The Hague.
In August 2005, del Ponte made a personal appearance at the Vatican
to ask the Roman Curia to help in the apprehension of Ante Gotovina, a
former Croatian general, who was being sought by The Hague for war
crimes.
Though he is still celebrated in Croatia as a hero, Gotovina is
believed to have been responsible for atrocities against ethnic Serb
civilians as part of an August 1995 offensive during the civil war that
attended the breakup of Yugoslavia.
Del Ponte told her hosts that
Gotovina was hiding out in a Franciscan monastery in Croatia -- and
accused the church of protecting him.
Del Ponte, however, was brushed off by Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, the
Vatican's foreign minister at the time. Outraged, del Ponte said that
the Curia "refuses totally to cooperate with us."
She claimed never to
have received a response to a letter she sent to Pope Benedict XVI.
Moreover, it would appear that the negative sentiments went both ways:
Already on August 22, the head of the Vatican division responsible for
overseeing Balkan affairs complained to the US Embassy about del Ponte's
"very undiplomatic" behavior.
In a cable the diplomats sent home soon
thereafter, they reported on the "very ugly impression" del Ponte had
made on the Vatican.
The Curia justified its refusal to assist The Hague in its manhunt for
Gotovina by pointing out that it was extremely unlikely that the former
general would be hiding out in a Franciscan monastery.
Nevertheless, a
source from within the church acknowledged to the Americans that there
had been ongoing tensions with the Franciscan monks -- though the
members of the order still enjoy a very high degree of recognition for
their heroic resistance of communist efforts to persecute Christians.
According to the high-ranking official, del Ponte was very aggressive
when she demanded to have an audience with the pope.
Even years later,
the former prosecutor was still livid. In her memoirs, first published
in 2008, del Ponte described how Archbishop Lajolo responded to her
request: "Just come to Saint Peter's Square," Lajolo reportedly told
her.
He was referring, of course, to the general audience that the head
of the Catholic Church holds there each Wednesday -- before tens of
thousands of visitors.
SIC: SPDN/EU