Antonio Caggiano

His Eminence Antonio Caggiano
Cardinal,Archbishop of Buenos Aires
Archdiocese	Buenos Aires
Installed	August 15, 1959
Term ended	April 22, 1975
Predecessor	Santiago Copello Fermín Lafitte(ad interim)
Successor	Juan Carlos Aramburu
Orders
Ordination	March 23, 1912 (Priest)
Consecration	March 17, 1935 (Archbishop)
Created cardinal	February 18, 1946
Rank	Cardinal priestofSan Lorenzo in Panisperna
Personal details
Born	Antonio Caggiano (1889-01-30)January 30, 1889 Coronda,Santa Fe Province,Argentina
Died	October 23, 1979(1979-10-23)(aged 90) Buenos Aires
Buried	Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral
Denomination	Roman Catholic Church
Alma mater	Seminary of Santa Fe

Styles of Antonio Caggiano
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Buenos Aires

Antonio Caggiano(30 January 1889 – 23 October 1979) was anarchbishopand acardinalof theRoman Catholic ChurchinArgentina.He played a part in helping Nazi sympathisers and war criminals escape prosecution in Europe by easing their passage to South America.

Biography

Caggiano was born inCoronda,Santa Fe Province.He studied in the seminary ofSanta Feand became a priest there in 1908, at the age of 23. From 1913 to 1931 he taught at the seminary. In the 1920s he was sent toRomeby the Argentine episcopacy, together with three other priests, in order to study the organization of theAzione Cattolica(theItalianCatholic Action). The ArgentineCatholic Actionwas founded in 1931 following this model.

Caggiano was appointed the firstbishopof the newly erectedDiocese of Rosarioon 13 September 1934, for which he was consecrated on 14 March 1935.Pope Pius XIIelevated him to Cardinal on 18 February 1946.

In his 2002 bookThe Real OdessaUki Goñishowed that Argentine diplomats and intelligence officers had, onPerón's instructions, vigorously encouraged Nazi and Fascist war criminals to make their home in Argentina. Argentina's first move into Nazi smuggling was in January 1946, when Caggiano flew with Bishop Agustín Barrére to Rome where Caggiano was due to be created cardinal. While in Rome, the Argentine bishops met with French CardinalEugène Tisserant,where they passed on a message (recorded in Argentina's diplomatic archives) that "the Government of the Argentine Republic was willing to receive French persons, whosepolitical attitudeduring the recent war would expose them, should they return to France, to harsh measures and private revenge ". Over the spring of 1946 a number of French war criminals,fascistsandVichyofficials made it from Italy to Argentina in the same way: they were issued passports by the RomeICRCoffice; these were then stamped with Argentine tourist visas (the need for health certificates and return tickets was waived on Caggiano's recommendation). The first documented case of a French war criminal arriving in Buenos Aires wasEmile Dewoitine,who was later sentenced in absentia to 20 years hard labour. He sailed first class on the same ship back with Cardinal Caggiano.

Caggiano participated in the1958and1963 Papal conclaves,but his age prevented him from participating in the conclaves of 1978.

On 15 August 1959 he was appointedArchbishop of Buenos Aires.He was installed there on 25 October. On 14 December of that year he was also appointed head of theMilitary Ordinariateof Argentina.

Caggiano retired from the Archbishopric on 22 April 1975, and resigned from the Military Ordinariate on 7 July of the same year. He was the Archbishop Emeritus of Buenos Aires for four more years. He died in 1979, at the age of 90, and was buried in theMetropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires.

Views

Le Marxisme-Léninisme

In 1961, Caggiano wrote a prologue for the Spanish translation by Juan Francisco Guevara (who later became a colonel) ofLe Marxisme-léninisme,written byJean Ousset,private secretary ofmonarchistintellectualCharles Maurras,and founder of theCité catholiquefundamentalistorganization. The book states that Marxism–Leninism can be successfully combated only by a "profound faith, an unlimited obedience to the Holy Father, and a thorough knowledge of the Church's doctrines"; and Caggiano thanked the "men ofLa Ciudad Católicaof Argentina "for publishing the book.

Along with ColonelJean Gardes,French expert inpsychological warfare,Ousset developed the new concept of "subversion".According toHoracio Verbitsky,an Argentine-Jewish member of the far-leftMontonerosparamilitary, who does not say that it was expounded in the book, this concept "conceived a protean, quintessential enemy who, rather than being defined by his actions, was seen as a force trying to subvert Christian order,natural lawor the Creator's plan. "Verbitsky also says that theCité catholiqueincluded members of theOASterrorist group founded in Madrid during theAlgerian War,and that the first branch outside France was created in 1958 in Argentina.

In this prologue, Caggiano explained that Marxism is born of "the negation of Christ and his Church put into practice by theRevolution"and spoke of a Marxist conspiracy to take over the world, for which it was necessary to" prepare for the decisive battle, "although the enemy had not yet" taken up arms. "Caggiano compared this vigilance to the one that preceded the 1571Battle of Lepanto"to save Europe from domination by the Turks".Ousset's book included a list of thepapal bullscondemning communism.

On this basis, Verbitsky, a member of the far-leftMontonerosparamilitary, attributed to Caggiano support for "human rights violations", commenting: "As often happens in a continent that imports ideas, the doctrine of annihilation preceded that of the revolutionary uprising."

Counter-insurgency

In October 1961, Caggiano, who was then vicar (not head) of the Argentine Military Ordinariate, participated in the inauguration ceremony of the first course oncounter-revolutionary warfarein the Higher Military College at the side of PresidentArturo Frondizi,who within a few months was ousted, accused, Verbitsky says, of being too tolerant towards communism.

Verbitsky says that Bishop Victorio Bonamín, Caggiano's associate in the militaryvicariategeneral, was one of the instructors in the course, but not Caggiano himself. He also says that in the course ofcounter-insurgencyclasses cadets at theNavy Mechanics Schoolwere shown the filmThe Battle of Algiers(1966), made by Italian communist directorGillo Pontecorvo.The film, which wascensored in France,showed the methods used by theFrench colonial armyin Algeria, including thesystemic use of torture.The naval chaplain (again, not Caggiano) introduced the film and added a commentary from the religious point of view, reportedly justifying the use of torture as a weapon.

See also

• Marie-Monique Robin
• Dirty War

External links

• Antonio CaggianoatFind a Grave
• Hernán Pacheco, Pablo Carrera.Los que no están.Desaparecidos y dictadura cívico-militar en Florencio Varela (1976 – 1983).
• Horacio Verbitsky,OpenDemocracy. 28 July 2005.Breaking the silence: the Catholic Church in Argentina and the "dirty war".
• "Antonio Caggiano".Catholic-Hierarchy.org.David M. Cheney.