Speaking frankly about “the known al-Qaida antipathy to the Pope,”
American embassy officials in 2008 asked the U.S. State Department to
consider an effort to help Vatican security forces deal with terrorist
threats.
The WikiLeaks website recently published a Dec. 19, 2008 State
Department cable reputedly from the U.S. Embassy in Rome.
The cable,
classified as “secret,” documented a request from the U.S. Vatican
Embassy to plan and fund a “crisis management tabletop exercise” with
Vatican security services.
The stated purpose of this effort was to enhance the Vatican’s crisis
response abilities and to “foster a dialogue with the Vatican on
counter-terrorism.”
“Al-Qaida has publicly identified the Pope and the Catholic Church as
an enemy (‘Crusaders’), and Vatican City attracts hundreds of thousands
of American citizen visitors each year, both tourists and pilgrims,”
the cable continued.
According to the cable, the head of the Vatican Gendarme Corps
Domenico Giani had sought specific security training from the FBI,
including explosives ordinance training for Vatican Gendarmerie members
at the Quantico Marine Corps base in Virginia. However, the cable
reported, Giani has been “reluctant to engage in a comprehensive
dialogue with the United States about Vatican capabilities and
preparedness to respond to a terrorist attack.”
While the famous Swiss Guard provides security for the Pope and
visiting dignitaries, the Gendarme Corps is responsible for general
security and law enforcement at the Vatican.
During a November 2008 conversation about al-Qaida’s threat to the
Vatican, U.S. Vatican Embassy official Julieta Valls Noyes proposed to
Giani a joint tabletop exercise on crisis management, to which he
reportedly responded “positively.”
The Rome Embassy cable noted the Holy See’s sensitivity about
appearing to be too close to any one state, which the embassy described
as a challenge to fostering dialogue about security. Another challenge
was “the Vatican’s conviction that its facilities must be easily
accessible to all Catholics.”
According to the cable’s analysis, Giani’s interest in a crisis
management exercise was an opportunity to better position the U.S. to
help the Vatican prepare to respond to terrorist threats.
The cable appears to be WikiLeaks’ first release of a Vatican-related
document that did not originate with the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See.
The cable’s authorship is attributed to U.S. Ambassador to Italy Ronald
Spogli.
More than 700 WikiLeaks cables originate at the U.S. Vatican Embassy,
while about 100 others originate at other American embassies and
consulates.
In a Dec. 3 response to CNA inquiries, the U.S. Vatican Embassy said
it could not address the authenticity of any documents provided to the
press. The embassy also condemned “in the strongest terms” the
unauthorized disclosure of classified information.
For their part, Vatican officials have also advised “great prudence”
in examining the WikiLeaks cables. Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico
Lombardi said the reports reflect “the perceptions and opinions of those
who wrote them” and cannot be considered as expressions of the Holy See
or as exact quotations of its officials.
SIC: CNA/INT'L