VAGNOZZI, EGIDIO

Papal diplomat; b. Rome, Feb. 2, 1906; d. Dec. 26, 1986. Educated at the Lateran Pontifical Seminary, he obtained doctorates in philosophy, theology, and canon law from the Roman Seminary. He was ordained to the priesthood with a dispensation from age on Dec. 22, 1928, by Raffaele Cardinal Merry del Val. Following a period in the Vatican Secretariate of State (1930–32) he served in Washington, D.C., on the staff of the Apostolic Delegate as secretary (1932–35) and auditor (1935–42). Raised to the rank of counselor, he served on the staff of the Apostolic Nunciatures in Lisbon (1942–45) and later in Paris (1945–47), during the time that Archbishop Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (later Pope John XXIII) was papal nuncio. In 1948, he was assigned to the Apostolic Delgation in India (1948–49).

Named a papal chamberlain in 1932 and a domestic prelate in 1945, Monsignor Vagnozzi was elevated to the titular archbishopric of Myra on March 14, 1949, and was consecrated on May 22 in the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. Archbishop Vagnozzi served as apostolic delegate in Manila (1949–51) and became the first papal nuncio to the Philippines (1951–58). Transferred to the United States, he was appointed seventh apostolic delegate in December 1958, by Pope John XXIII, a post he retained until May 1967, when Pope Paul VI created him Cardinal Deacon of San Giuseppe al Trionfale.

Cardinal Vagnozzi was a member of the Congregation for the Bishops and for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs. He was named Prefect of Economic Affairs of the Vatican in 1968, a position he retained until his death at the age of 75.

See Also: nuncio, apostolic.

[n. halligan]