Photo by Lane Bros. Commercial Photographers

Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, recently paid a visit to Emory University in Atlanta. News of his visit is featured as the cover story of this issue. It was not his first visit to Atlanta, which was the episcopal ordination of Auxiliary Bishop Bernard E. “Ned” Shlesinger III in 2017. Overall, there have been 10 men to serve in this role since the formation of the Diocese of Atlanta in 1956, but not all have technically been nuncios. 

The term nuncio comes from Latin nuntius, meaning “envoy” or “messenger.” The position is essentially the Holy See’s ambassador to various places around the world. The person in that role in 1956 was Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, who was the apostolic delegate to the U.S. That term applies to diplomats from the Holy See to countries without formal diplomatic ties to the Vatican, which was the case for the United States at that time. Cicognani’s first visit to Atlanta was for the installation of the diocese’s first bishop, Francis E. Hyland, in November of 1956. 

There would be four more apostolic delegates to the United States until diplomatic relations with the Holy See were formalized. That happened in 1984, largely because of the relationship between President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II, who were working closely together to support democracy in Eastern Europe. With normalized relations, Apostolic Delegate Pio Leghi then became pro-nuncio, a term given to a nuncio who was not a dean of the diplomatic corps (i.e. a senior member). Confusing enough? 

Thankfully, in 1991 the Holy See simplified things by phasing out the term pro-nuncio in favor of simply nuncio. Pro-nuncios already in place at the time retained the title until the end of their tenure, making Gabriel Montalvo Higuera the first apostolic nuncio to the United States in 1998. 

Despite some nuances in title and duty, apostolic delegates, pro-nuncios and nuncios all serve as diplomatic envoys and liaisons between dioceses and the Vatican. All 10 of the men who served in these roles since 1956 visited Atlanta during their tenure. 

Apostolic Delegates 

• Amleto Giovanni Cicognani (1933-1959) 
• Egidio Vagnozzi (1958-1968) 
• Luigi Raimondi (1967-1973) 
• Jean Jadot (1973-1980) 
• Pio Laghi (1980-1984) 

Apostolic Pro-Nuncios 

• Pio Laghi (1984-1990) 
• Agostino Cacciavillan (1990-1998) 

Apostolic Nuncios 

• Gabriel Montalvo Higuera (1998-2005) 
• Pietro Sambi (2005-2011) 
• Carlo Maria Viganò (2011-2016) 
• Christophe Pierre (2016-present)