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December 17, 2005
New Nuncio
We have our new Apostolic Nuncio. The Catholic Hierarchy Blog - an extension of the invaluable Catholic Hierarchy website - has the details.
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Comments
I googles the name, and not much to go on aside from the various pushes for peace(as would be expected with any Bishop in the Holy Land). He doesnt seem to be connected with American Bishops or the USCCB, as that is certainly not a bad thing.
Posted by: John B at Dec 17, 2005 4:18:42 PM
His background will equip him to be the ambassador to the country with the largest number of Jews outside of Israel.
Tom Haessler
Posted by: Tom Haessler at Dec 17, 2005 4:40:09 PM
I expect some Jews may be dissapointed at the new nuncio, since he spoke out in defense of the Palestinians, and also spoke out against how the govrenmnet of Israel has mistreated Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land. Not that I agree with everything he says, but I do not think he will be instantly popular with the many people who are Pro Israel.
Posted by: John B at Dec 17, 2005 4:53:15 PM
Won't he be the one who nominates candidates for bishop? If so then that's the most important thing to consider I would think.
Posted by: Tim F. at Dec 17, 2005 6:48:53 PM
"How Israel has mistreated Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land"? What are you smoking, John?
Posted by: Doug Barber at Dec 17, 2005 7:28:33 PM
He does have an important role in the selection of bishops - he gathers the recommendations from local bishops and arranges the list as a ternus - putting his first suggestion at the top - to the Congregation for the Bishops. He also has the role of advising and suggesting - he will tell the US bishops what sort of men Rome is looking for, and tells Rome what sort of bishops the US is looking for. Some papal representatives have had a more active role in the appointments - it depends in part upon the nuncio himself, and upon the Congregation for Bishops.
It will be fascinating to see what sort of man this Archbishop Sambi is. The US is an important appointment and has often led to other things - in fact, the infamous Abp. Jean Jadot is the only delegate to the US who was not made a Cardinal after his term here was up. The retiring Abp. Montalvo is older than most who have left the post, so it will be interesting to see if he is given another task and elevated to the Cardinalate, or simply allowed to retire in peace.
Posted by: Tim Ferguson at Dec 17, 2005 7:54:16 PM
As someone awaiting a bishop (Sioux Falls), I'm very curious to see how Archbp. Sambi works out...
Posted by: Chris Burgwald at Dec 18, 2005 12:29:30 AM
Chris, since Benedict does not seem opposed to appointing native sons as bishops (see Bishoo-elect Sample in Marquette), I'm holding out hope that Msgr. Mangan comes back home with a miter.
I'm originally from Saginaw, and I'd like to thank you soooooo much for allowing us to have Bishop Carlson, truly one of the great ones!
Posted by: Tim Ferguson at Dec 18, 2005 8:07:33 AM
"How Israel has mistreated Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land"? What are you smoking?
I see you haven't talked with too many Palestinian Christians in the past 50 years.
Posted by: GregY at Dec 19, 2005 10:46:24 AM
An unpleasant fact of ecclesial life is that a number of Eastern Rite Catholics have been infected with the anti-Semitism that abounds in that part of the world. This was especially evident at Vatican II during the deliberations on NOSTRA AETATE. THE PROTOCOLS OF THE ELDERS OF ZION was a regular feature of the anti-Jewish culture of middle Eastern Christians. Yes, apologists for every policy of the state of Israel are often blind to certain injustices, but, IMHO, the Vatican is still too tilted toward the Palestinians. Occasionally, statements are made by Vatican officials suggesting a moral parity between Hamas's or Islamic Jihad's acts of terrorism and Israel's extra-legal attacks on known terrorists. This does not present Catholic moral teaching accurately. Direct attacks on civilian populations to further a political cause is intrinsically evil and always wrong for any motive whatsover. Direct attacks on known terrorists with precautions taken so that civilian casualities will be minimized or even eliminated are sometimes justified by the principle of the double effect. It remains a complex area for moral reflection, but there's nothing complex about the teaching that terrorist attacks are always immoral because of the lack of respect for innocent human life. The notion that every nation has a right to its own state is not supported by Catholic moral philosophy and theology. Aspects of self-determination, yes; the right to a state on the mere grounds of being a "nation" - no. While the Church's relationship to the Jewish people (which is qualitatively different than her relationship to any other non-Christian religion) is distinct from her relationship to the modern state of Israel, the importance of Israel to the Jewish people is a reason for the Church to have a preferential option for Israel as over against the Palestinians considered as a nation aspiring to statehood. Increasingly the dominant element in Palestinian nationalism is Islamism (Hamas made substantial gains in the recent elections) and the secular elements in the Palestinian movement have deeply anti-Jewish (and not just anti-Zionist) dimensions. In my opinion, the ONLY reason to support Palestinian statehood is that the United States, Europe, the UN, and (unfortunately) the Vatican have jumped on this bandwagon. The few remaining Christians in "Palestine" will move to the United States when this state becomes Islamic. Then maybe the Eastern Christians will be able to shed their very ancient anti-Semitic biases.
Tom Haessler
Posted by: Tom Haessler at Dec 19, 2005 7:12:39 PM
