Apostolic Nunciature to Czechoslovakia

Last updated April 17, 2023

The Apostolic Nuncio to Czechoslovakia was an ecclesiastical office of the Roman Catholic Church, established in 1920 and lasting, with significant interruptions, until 1993. It was a diplomatic post of the Holy See, whose representative is called the Apostolic Nuncio with the rank of an ambassador. The office of the nunciature was located in Prague.

History

The relationship between the Holy See and the government of Czechoslovakia was strained more often than not. In the 1920s, Apostolic Nuncio Francesco Marmaggi left Prague to protest public celebrations of the Czech national hero Jan Hus, a heretic in the eyes of the Church. Years of negotiations established a new working relationship, but the Vatican failed to persuade the Czechs to allow Marmaggi to return as nuncio, not even a face-saving few weeks.^[1] World War II ended normal relations, and the Holy See sought a diplomatic middle ground by granting recognition to the Slovak Republic, a Nazi client state, but sent a chargé d'affaires rather than a nuncio.

Relations were restored only briefly after the war before the new Communist government expelled the nuncio and terminated diplomatic relations. Finally, with the fall of the Soviet Union, the parties renewed their old ties, but in less than three years Czechoslovakia divided into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and the Apostolic Nuncio to Czechoslovakia became nuncio to both of those new nations.^[2]

List of papal representatives to Czechoslovakia

Apostolic nuncios

Clemente Micara (15 May 1920 - 30 May 1923)
Francesco Marmaggi (30 May 1923 - 13 February 1928)^{[lower-alpha 1]}
Pietro Ciriaci (15 February 1928^[3]^{[lower-alpha 2]} - 9 January 1934)^{[lower-alpha 3]}
Saverio Ritter (5 August 1935^[1] - 1939)^{[lower-alpha 4]}
Giovanni Coppa (30 June 1990^[2] – 1 January 1993)^[4]

Notes

↑ To protest the celebration of Jan Hus, he left Prague on 6 July 1925. The Vatican and Czech officials reached a temporary agreement in January 1928, but the Vatican was unable to persuade the Czech government to allow Marmaggi to return as nuncio, not even for a matter of weeks.
↑ Šmíd dates his appointment to 18 March 1928, the day he was consecrated a bishop.^[1]
↑ Ciriaci was recalled to Rome in October 1933 at the insistence of the government, which accused of him of interfering in internal affairs by expressing sympathy for Slovak autonomy.^[1]
↑ Ritter's functions ended with the dissolution of the Czechoslovak state under Nazi pressure in the spring of 1939.

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References

1 2 3 4 Šmíd, Marek (2015). "Nuncjatura Apostolska bez nuncjusza w Czechosłowacji okresu międzywojennego" (PDF). Historia Slavorum Occidentis (in Polish): 168–184. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
1 2 "Apoštolská nunciatúra: Diplomatické styky SR s Vatikánom". Katolícka Cirkev na Slovensku (in Slovak).
↑ Acta Apostolicae Sedis (PDF). Vol. XX. 1928. pp. 77, 123. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
↑ "E' morto il cardinale Giovanni Coppa, diplomatico e grande latinista. Aveva 91 anni". Faro di Roma (in Italian). 16 May 2016. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2016.

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[3] To protest the celebration of Jan Hus, he left Prague on 6 July 1925. The Vatican and Czech officials reached a temporary agreement in January 1928, but the Vatican was unable to persuade the Czech government to allow Marmaggi to return as nuncio, not even for a matter of weeks.

[5] Šmíd dates his appointment to 18 March 1928, the day he was consecrated a bishop.^[1]

[6] Ciriaci was recalled to Rome in October 1933 at the insistence of the government, which accused of him of interfering in internal affairs by expressing sympathy for Slovak autonomy.^[1]

[7] Ritter's functions ended with the dissolution of the Czechoslovak state under Nazi pressure in the spring of 1939.

[smid-1] 1 2 3 4 Šmíd, Marek (2015). "Nuncjatura Apostolska bez nuncjusza w Czechosłowacji okresu międzywojennego" (PDF). Historia Slavorum Occidentis (in Polish): 168–184. Retrieved 21 August 2019.

[kbs-2] 1 2 "Apoštolská nunciatúra: Diplomatické styky SR s Vatikánom". Katolícka Cirkev na Slovensku (in Slovak).

[4] Acta Apostolicae Sedis (PDF). Vol. XX. 1928. pp. 77, 123. Retrieved 21 June 2020.

[8] "E' morto il cardinale Giovanni Coppa, diplomatico e grande latinista. Aveva 91 anni". Faro di Roma (in Italian). 16 May 2016. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2016.

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