Papal legate

<h2 id="history">History</h2>

<p>In the <a href="/facts/High_Middle_Ages/uPRGYdE6">High Middle Ages</a>, papal legates were often used to strengthen the links between Rome and the many parts of <a href="/facts/Christendom/vWEEqosk">Christendom</a>. More often than not, legates were learned men and skilled diplomats who were not from the country they were accredited to. For example, the Italian-born <a href="/facts/Guala_Bicchieri/S9jXjbvM">Guala Bicchieri</a> served as papal legate to England in the early 13th century and played a major role in both the English government and church at the time. By the <a href="/facts/Late_Middle_Ages/XNtcJjrU">Late Middle Ages</a> it had become more common to appoint native clerics to the position of legate within their own country, such as <a href="/facts/Cardinal_Wolsey/ECWmU14l">Cardinal Wolsey</a> acting as legate to the court of <a href="/facts/Henry_VIII_of_England/LFgGAjh0">Henry VIII of England</a>. The reason for this switch in policy could be attributed to a change in attitude on the eve of the <a href="/facts/Reformation/9ClEbhnL">Reformation</a>; by this point, foreign men representing the papacy would be more likely to reinforce dissent than bring Christendom closer together.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a>
</p><p>Papal legates often summoned <a href="/facts/Legatine_council/8dUkXGXx">legatine councils</a>, which dealt with church government and other ecclesiastical issues.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> According to Pope <a href="/facts/Pope_Gregory_VII/67umWBjf">Gregory VII</a>, writing in the <i><a href="/facts/Dictatus_papae/CbpP4moe">Dictatus papae</a></i>, a papal legate "presides over all bishops in a council, even if he is inferior in rank, and he can pronounce sentence of deposition against them".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> During the <a href="/facts/Middle_Ages/RqzEKB9v">Middle Ages</a>, a legatine council was the usual means that a papal legate imposed his directives.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a>
</p>
<h2 id="diplomatic-ranks">Diplomatic ranks</h2>
<p>There are several ranks of papal legates in diplomacy, some of which are no longer used.
</p>
<h3>Apostolic nuncio</h3>

<p>The most common form of papal legate today is the <a href="/facts/Nuncio/GuHV2szJ">apostolic nuncio</a>, whose task it is to strengthen relations between the <a href="/facts/Holy_See/7tK8AceC">Holy See</a> and the Catholic Church in a particular country and at the same time to act as the diplomatic representative of the Holy See to the government of that country.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> An apostolic nuncio is generally equivalent in rank to that of <a href="/facts/Ambassador/hVpzsRdy">ambassador</a> extraordinary and <a href="/facts/Plenipotentiary/ftCPbehu">plenipotentiary</a>, although in <a href="/facts/Catholic_countries/jYJKKzGB">Catholic countries</a> the nuncio often ranks above ambassadors in diplomatic protocol. A nuncio performs the same functions as an ambassador and has the same diplomatic privileges. Under the 1961 <a href="/facts/Vienna_Convention_on_Diplomatic_Relations/gfAz5yuv">Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations</a>, to which the Holy See is a party, a nuncio is an ambassador like those from any other country. The Vienna Convention allows the host state to grant seniority of precedence to the nuncio over others of ambassadorial rank accredited to the same country, and may grant the <a href="/facts/Dean_of_the_Diplomatic_Corps/2Blw4wY9">deanship of that country's diplomatic corps</a> to the nuncio regardless of seniority.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a>
</p>
<h4>Pro-nuncio</h4>
<p>Pro-nuncio was a term used from 1965 to 1991 for a papal diplomatic representative of full ambassadorial rank accredited to a country that did not accord him precedence over other ambassadors and <i><a href="/facts/Ex_officio/5LIrlCsb">ex officio</a></i> deanship of the diplomatic corps. In those countries, the papal representative's precedence within the corps is exactly on a par with that of the other members of ambassadorial rank, so that he becomes dean only on becoming the senior member of the corps.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a>
</p>
<h4>Apostolic delegate</h4>
<p>For countries with which the Holy See has no diplomatic relations, an apostolic delegate is sent to serve as a liaison with the Catholic Church in that country, though not accredited to its government.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a>
</p>
<h3><i>Legati</i></h3>

<h4><i>Legatus a latere</i></h4>
<p>This highest rank (literally "from the (pope's) side", i.e. "intimately" trusted) is normally awarded to a priest of <a href="/facts/Cardinal_(Catholicism)/Acxx5Hd4">cardinal rank</a>. It is an exceptional investiture and can either be focused or broad in scope. The legate <i>a latere</i> is the alter ego of the Pope, and as such, possesses full plenipotentiary powers.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a>
</p>
<h4><i>Legatus natus</i></h4>
<p>Literally "born legate", i.e. not nominated individually but <i>ex officio</i>, namely a bishop holding this rank as a privilege of his see, e.g. <a href="/facts/Archbishop/5qxa8woF">archbishops</a> of <a href="/facts/Archbishop_of_Canterbury/x3H2z6bI">Canterbury</a> (pre-<a href="/facts/English_Reformation/BNESA0Ab">Reformation</a>), <a href="/facts/Archbishop_of_Prague/BuPegtcl">Prague</a>, <a href="/facts/Archbishop_of_Esztergom/FW2JBoGj">Esztergom</a>, <a href="/facts/Archbishop_of_Udine/APg7HBCI">Udine</a>, <a href="/facts/Archbishop_of_Salzburg/wfQd0gXu">Salzburg</a>, <a href="/facts/Roman_Catholic_Archdiocese_of_Gniezno/FwY5vJ7W">Gniezno</a> and <a href="/facts/Archbishop_of_Cologne/3Q70ewU3">Cologne</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> The <i>legatus natus</i> would act as the Pope's representative in his province, with a <i>legatus a latere</i> only being sent in extraordinary circumstances. Although limited in their jurisdiction compared to <i>legati a latere</i>, a <i>legatus natus</i> was not subordinate to them.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a>
</p>
<h4><i>Legatus missus</i></h4>
<p>Literally "sent legate", possessing limited powers for the purpose of completing a specific mission. This commission is normally focused in scope and of short duration.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a>
</p>
<h2 id="gubernatorial-legates">Gubernatorial legates</h2>
<p>Some administrative (temporal) provinces of the <a href="/facts/Papal_States/536PqTjo">Papal States</a> in (mostly central) Italy were governed by a papal legate. This has been the case in <a href="/facts/Benevento/MHIBAbjL">Benevento</a>, in <a href="/facts/Pontecorvo/v7m295Ip">Pontecorvo</a> (of Campagna e Marittima/of Frosinone) and in <a href="/facts/Viterbo/oxS1V8Gx">Viterbo</a>. In four cases, including <a href="/facts/Bologna/glE9rlrW">Bologna</a>, this post was awarded exclusively to <a href="/facts/Cardinal_(Catholicism)/Acxx5Hd4">cardinals</a>; the <a href="/facts/Velletri/py8cDygD">Velletri</a> post was created for <a href="/facts/Bartolomeo_Pacca/QFItLDwY">Bartolomeo Pacca</a>.
</p><p>The title could be changed to <a href="/facts/Apostolic_Delegate/GuHV2szJ">Apostolic Delegate</a>, as happened in Frosinone (for Pontecorvo) in 1827.
</p>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Internuncio/GuHV2szJ">Internuncio</a> – a lower rank than Nuncio for a papal diplomatic representative, a title historically used at a time when states sent to some less important countries diplomatic representatives, called Envoys or Ministers, lower in rank than Ambassadors.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/List_of_papal_legates_to_England/CBWnBArH">List of papal legates to England</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Papal_apocrisiarius/qRCoNndP">Papal apocrisiarius</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Pontifical_legate/hq2EapHy">Pontifical legate</a></li></ul>

<h3>Citations</h3>

<h3>Sources</h3>
General references

<ul><li><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09118a.htm"><i>Catholic Encyclopedia</i>: "Legate"</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Italy_states2.htm#Papal-State">WorldStatesmen – Italy to 1860 – Papal State</a></li>
<li>Maseri, Pellegrino (1709). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=mstFAAAAcAAJ"><i>De Legatis et Nunciis Apostolicis Iudiciis Ecclesiasticis Civilibus et Criminalibus Oneribusque Civitatum Cameralibus et Communitativis</i></a> (in Latin). Rome: Plachus.</li>
<li>Langhaider, Konstantin (1785). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=YzFHAAAAcAAJ"><i>Commentatio Canonica de Legatis et Nuntiis Pontificum</i></a> (in Latin).</li>
<li>Schott, Johann (1778). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=e6pKAAAAcAAJ"><i>De Legatis Natis</i></a> (in Latin). Bamberg: Klietsch.</li>
<li>Heidemann, Josef (1904). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=YPAUAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA83"><i>Die englische Legation des Cardinals Guido Fulcodi, des spaeteren P. Clemens IV</i></a> (in German). Munster: Westfalische Vereinsdruckerei.</li>
<li>Wynen, Arthur (1922). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=pPOMnQEACAAJ"><i>Die päpstliche Diplomatie: geschichtlich und rechtlich dargestellt /von Arthur Wynen</i></a>. Das Völkerrecht, Heft 10 (in German). Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder.</li>
<li>Paro, Gino (1947). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=bF0zngEACAAJ"><i>The Right of Papal Legation</i></a>. Washington, DC: <a href="/facts/Catholic_University_of_America_Press/vIbjKpXs">Catholic University of America Press</a>.</li>
<li>Wasner, Franz (1958). "Fifteenth-century texts on the Ceremonial of the papal 'Legatus a latere'". <i>Traditio</i>. 14: 295–358. <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0362152900010126">10.1017/S0362152900010126</a>. <a href="/facts/JSTOR_(identifier)/YTeVmaJ7">JSTOR</a> <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/27830370">27830370</a>. <a href="/facts/S2CID_(identifier)/ldJsHa2Y">S2CID</a> <a href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:151940501">151940501</a>.</li>
<li>Wasner, Franz (1960). "'Legatus a latere': addenda varia". <i>Traditio</i>. 16: 405–416. <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0362152900006152">10.1017/S0362152900006152</a>. <a href="/facts/JSTOR_(identifier)/YTeVmaJ7">JSTOR</a> <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/27830415">27830415</a>. <a href="/facts/S2CID_(identifier)/ldJsHa2Y">S2CID</a> <a href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:151584067">151584067</a>.</li>
<li>Harvey, Margaret M. (1993). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=4DvpAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA272"><i>England, Rome, and the Papacy, 1417–1464: The Study of a Relationship</i></a>. Manchester, England: <a href="/facts/Manchester_University_Press/CboBlLk6">Manchester University Press</a>. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-7190-3459-6.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Andrew_Gillett/oz1MCFn7">Gillett, Andrew</a> (2003). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=SvCrnyRi3JkC&pg=PA267"><i>Envoys and Political Communication in the Late Antique West, 411–533</i></a>. Cambridge, England: <a href="/facts/Cambridge_University_Press/fgEBSSRq">Cambridge University Press</a>. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-1-139-44003-5.</li>
<li>Melnyk, Roman A. (2009). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ShZCAQAAIAAJ"><i>Vatican Diplomacy at the United Nations: A History of Catholic Global Engagement</i></a>. Lewiston, NY: <a href="/facts/Edwin_Mellen_Press/MY3FdxoS">Edwin Mellen Press</a>. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-7734-3881-1.</li>
<li>Rennie, Kriston R. (2013). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=tJNEAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT85"><i>The Foundations of Medieval Papal Legation</i></a>. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England: Palgrave Macmillan UK. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-1-137-26494-7.</li></ul>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li> Media related to Papal legations at Wikimedia Commons</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Pagden, Anthony (2010) [2002]. The Idea of Europe: From Antiquity to the European Union. Vol. 13. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521795524. <a href="978-0521795524" target="_blank">978-0521795524</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Robinson, I. S. (1990). The Papacy 1073–1198: Continuity and Innovation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 150. ISBN 0-521-31922-6. <a href="0-521-31922-6" target="_blank">0-521-31922-6</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>Robinson, I. S. (1990). The Papacy 1073–1198: Continuity and Innovation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 150. ISBN 0521319226. <a href="0521319226" target="_blank">0521319226</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>Robinson, I. S. (1990). The Papacy 1073–1198: Continuity and Innovation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 150. ISBN 0521319226. <a href="0521319226" target="_blank">0521319226</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>Collinge, William (2012). Historical Dictionary of Catholicism (2nd ed.). Maryland, US: Scarecrow Press Inc. p. 251. ISBN 978-0810857551. <a href="978-0810857551" target="_blank">978-0810857551</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>United Nations Conference on Diplomatic Intercourse and Immunities (1961). "Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Article 16". United Nations. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) <a href="/wiki/Vienna_Convention_on_Diplomatic_Relations" target="_blank">/wiki/Vienna_Convention_on_Diplomatic_Relations</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:7"><p>Beal, John P.; Coriden, James A.; Green, Thomas J., eds. (2000). New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law (Study ed.). New Jersey: Paulist Press. p. 462. ISBN 978-0809140664. <a href="978-0809140664" target="_blank">978-0809140664</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:8"><p>Collinge, William (2012). Historical Dictionary of Catholicism (2nd ed.). Maryland, US: Scarecrow Press Inc. p. 251. ISBN 978-0810857551. <a href="978-0810857551" target="_blank">978-0810857551</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:9"><p>Bellenger, Dominic Aidan; Fletcher, Stella (2001). Princes of the Church: A History of the English Cardinals. Stroud, UK: Sutton. p. 2. ISBN 0-7509-2630-9. <a href="0-7509-2630-9" target="_blank">0-7509-2630-9</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:10"><p>Livingstone, E. A. (2013) [1977]. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (3rd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. p. 331. ISBN 978-0199659623. <a href="978-0199659623" target="_blank">978-0199659623</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:11"><p>Bellenger, Dominic Aidan; Fletcher, Stella (2001). Princes of the Church: A History of the English Cardinals. Stroud, UK: Sutton. p. 2. ISBN 0-7509-2630-9. <a href="0-7509-2630-9" target="_blank">0-7509-2630-9</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:12"><p>Livingstone, E. A. (2013) [1977]. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (3rd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. p. 331. ISBN 978-0199659623. <a href="978-0199659623" target="_blank">978-0199659623</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:13"><p>Tayler, Thomas (1866). The Law Glossary. New York: Baker, Voorhis & Co. p. 300. <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:14"><p>Bellenger, Dominic Aidan; Fletcher, Stella (2001). Princes of the Church: A History of the English Cardinals. Stroud, UK: Sutton. p. 2. ISBN 0-7509-2630-9. <a href="0-7509-2630-9" target="_blank">0-7509-2630-9</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:15"><p>Livingstone, E. A. (2013) [1977]. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (3rd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. p. 331. ISBN 978-0199659623. <a href="978-0199659623" target="_blank">978-0199659623</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Papal legate open-in-new

Papal legate