Archbishop Mennini, 63, has been Apostolic Nuncio to the Russian Federation since 2002 and was additionally appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Uzbekistan in 2008. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Rome in 1974 and consecrated Bishop in 2000. He has also served as Nuncio in Bulgaria. He is pictured presenting his credentials to President Vladimir Putin in the Alexander Hall of the Kremlin Palace.
As a young priest, Fr Mennini was a go-between, enabling communication between the family of Aldo Moro, the Christian Democrat former Prime Minister of Italy, and the Red Brigades who had kidnapped Moro in 1978 and eventually killed him after 55 days in captivity.
5 comments:
Fr. Tim,
For one nasty moment, I thought the man standing between Vladimir Putin and Archbishop Mennini was Peter Seewald!
Oh
Well, if he's served in Uzbekistan and Moscow he must be pretty tough. Blighty will be a breeze.
This reminds me of my favourite nuncio story. No doubt it will be familiar to many, but bears retelling, I think. I first heard it years after the event in the Grauniad, but then subsequently met someone who'd been in the government at the time and who had actually witnessed the events.
Once upon a time, in the Harold Wilson government in the heady 1960s, there was a Foreign Secretary called George Brown, who was a notorious inebriate. According to my source, there was a safe window of three or four hours during the day when he could actually do the job.
Anyway, at a party at the Nunciature in Wimbledon, George Brown went up to a gloriously attired figure and asked:
'Beautiful lady in red, will you dance this waltz with me?'
The figure replied:
'No, Mr Brown, I will not, for three reasons.
First, you are drunk.
Second, this isn't a waltz, it's the Uruguayan National Anthem.
And third, I'm not a "beautiful lady in red". I'm the Cardinal Archbishop of Montevideo'!!
(Actually, my source told me that what he in fact said was 'I'm the Papal Legate', but for once I think the Guardian's version scores.)
Imagine if William Hague had been similarly enchanted: 'Beautiful lady in white...'
Far from being a new channel for announcements of this kind, I think you'll find The Tablet has broken the embargo in a pretty dramatic way. Let's hope the good work achieved by Archbishop Mennini in the former soviet republic isn't set back by the breach. If The Tablet was hoping to win over the new Nuncio as a fan I suspect they've scored an own goal!
It's official then:
NOMINA DEL NUNZIO APOSTOLICO IN GRAN BRETAGNA
Il Santo Padre ha nominato Nunzio Apostolico in Gran Bretagna S.E. Mons. Antonio Mennini, Arcivescovo titolare di Ferento, finora Nunzio Apostolico nella Federazione Russa e in Uzbekistan.
[01818-01.01]
Post a Comment