Papal Nuncio reassigned

After almost seven years of serving as the Vatican’s ambassador, Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Antonio Franco will soon be appointed as Apostolic Nunciature to Israel and Cyprus, the National Office of Mass Media (NOMM) announced yesterday.

NOMM spokesman Fr. James Reuter said Pope Benedict XVI had made the appointment of Franco as the Vatican’s representative to the two countries.

"The news was published in the Vatican at high noon on Saturday, Jan. 21, Roman time. It was released simultaneously, in Manila, by Monsignor Jain Mendez, chargé d’ affaires of the Philippine Nunciature," Reuter said.

The Vatican, however, has not yet announced the date when the 68-year-old prelate would assume his new post and whom his replacement might be.

"It could be at any time during the next two months. Benedict XVI did not publicize any reasons for the change, nor has any new Nuncio been appointed for the Philippines," Reuters said.

Franco is currently in Rome, apparently to get instructions on his new assignment. The transfer has already been made, but he will still return to the Philippines to wind up his affairs before assuming his new appointment.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, a vocal critic of illegal gambling and the Arroyo administration, said he had suddenly found himself without words upon learning that his good friend would be leaving soon for a new post abroad.

"I do not know what to say, this is sudden and this is bad news to me… I thought that he would be with us for a long time. I have come to love his gentle ways. I am sorry, I will miss him," Cruz said.

He described the outgoing Nuncio as "very good and effective" in his work in the country.

"In fact he (Franco) is loved and admired by the bishops and respected in the ecclesiastical circle in the Philippines," Cruz said.

"He handled everything beautifully. Nobody was unhappy when he appeared. He is really a good man and everybody would be sorry to see him gone. He was universally loved," Reuter added.

Archdiocese of Manila spokesperson Peachy Yamsuan said Franco’s new assignment would be "quite challenging."

Born in Puglianello, Benevento in Italy on March 24, 1937, Franco initially entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1972 serving the Nunciatures of Bolivia, Iran and France, and at the Permanent Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York.

Franco also worked at the Secretariat of State, Section for Relations with States, in Vatican City before he was appointed as the Apostolic Nuncio in Ukraine in 1992 and consecrated Titular Archbishop of Gallese on the same year.

Franco became the Apostolic Nuncio in the Philippines on April 6, 1999, the 14th Papal representative in the country.

Reuter told The STAR that Franco’s seven-year term in the country was "too short," compared to his predecessor Apostolic Nuncio Bruno Torpigliani who served 17 years, from 1973 to 1990, and Apostolic Nuncio Gian Vincenzo Moreni, who stayed for nine years from 1990 until 1999.

Reuter remembered the soft-spoken Italian prelate who "kept the peace with the bishops and among the politicians and the Nunciature. There were stormy years and he was very friendly. He was transparent to the press and did not conceal anything."

Franco is also the dean of the College of Ambassadors, composed of all the envoys assigned to the country, and "kept the peace even when he had something painful to say. He would invite the person to lunch and after a drink, with dignity and respect to the guy, he would say it," Reuter said.

The last seven years were not all smooth sailing for the Nuncio, according to Reuter, but Franco was very effective in addressing the controversial issues involving the men of the cloth.

The next Papal Nuncio in the country, the NOMM spokesperson said, should posses the same qualities as Archbishop Franco.

"Our Nuncio is a troubleshooter. We need a troubleshooter (like him) if possible because in the mixed-up government, many (try to) force us to (issue) an opinion about politics," Reuter said.

In the heat of resignation calls to President Arroyo by the opposition and critics, Franco never ordered the bishops to "shut up," contrary to reports.

"He (Franco) only said something that the Vatican wants to say: that the mind of the Church is to tend to the spiritual, and our field is not politics," Reuter recalled.

Reuter said Franco never got in the way of the influential Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), President Arroyo, or the former presidents and political leaders of the country.