Pio Laghi

Pío Cardinal Laghi (born May 21,1922) is a Roman Catholic Cardinal who has served in the diplomatic service of the Holy See and in the Roman Curia.

After a wide range of diplomatic postings,his appointment as Apostolic Delegate to Argentina in 1974 placed him in a position where his actions would cast a shadow over his later career.He was involved with the military dictatorship that tortured and killed thousands,and indeed secretly possessed a list of the "disappeared".

However,in 1980 Pope John Paul II advanced him to Apostolic Delegate (after 1984,Pro-Nuncio) to the United States,where he was entrusted with emplacing conservatives in key positions,such as Bernard Cardinal Law in Boston and John Cardinal O'Connor in New York.In 1990 John Paul named Laghi to head the Congregation for Catholic Education,and in the consistory of 1991 made him a cardinal,though Argentine writers had begun exposing his links to the past dictatorship.In 1997 the scandal was widely exposed,and though Laghi denied the charges this is considered to have ended his chance to become Pope.

He headed the Congregation for Catholic Education until 1999,and from 1999 to 2001 he was the cardinal protodeacon before exercising his right as a Cardinal Deacon of ten years' standing to become a Cardinal Priest.In 2002 he became too old to vote in a papal election but continued to undertake special missions for his friend Pope John Paul.

External link

• Biography at The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church site

Reference

• Francis A. Burkle-Young,PASSING THE KEYS [ISBN 1568331304] pages 315-317,325-326.