APOSTOLIC NUNCIATURE. – The right of legation (v.)—both active and passive, that is, the right to send and receive diplomatic representatives—derives to the Holy See from the juridical perfection of the Church. The diplomatic representatives whom it sends to the various civil governments are called nuncios and internuncios.
As has been seen in the discussion of apocrisiaries (v.), from the time of St. Leo the Great the popes had representatives at the imperial court of Constantinople, though these were competent only in religious matters, not political ones. The papal envoys to the court of the Franks were also called apocrisiaries; yet, although—unlike their ancient predecessors—they dealt mainly with political affairs, their mission lacked the stability and continuity that characterize modern nunciatures. The differences between nunciatures and the ancient apostolic vicars and legates-nati are the same as those noted in connection with the modern apostolic delegates (v.). It is also necessary to observe that both apostolic vicars and legates-nati represented the Supreme Pontiff to the Catholic communities in their respective territories, but not to the civil governments.
According to an opinion supported by sufficient evidence, the origin of permanent nunciatures in various nations should be linked to the office of the *nuncius collector et commissarius decimarum*.
Beginning in the 13th century, the Roman Curia collected tithes and other sums due to it in various countries through special commissioners dependent on the Apostolic Chamber. At first, this office was entrusted to Curial officials, either Italian or from the country where the commission was to be exercised, but residing in Rome. Later, as the office grew in importance, high prelates were also appointed to II. In France and Germany, these collectors operated in one or two ecclesiastical provinces; in England, the Nordic countries, and generally in nations distant from Rome, the commission covered an area equivalent to that of the respective state. In countries where collectors of the first type were stationed, the papal court sent legates to resolve political difficulties, even those arising from the collectors’ work. In other countries, however—especially those distant from Rome—where sending special legates presented greater difficulties, the collectors themselves were invested with diplomatic functions, resided at the sovereign’s court, and served as intermediaries between the sovereign and the Holy See. The adoption of ambassadors in dealings among states led the Apostolic See to adopt this new form of representation, in some cases enhancing the diplomatic attributes of the earlier collectorates and in others establishing entirely new representations. The emergence of permanent nunciatures, though necessary and carefully prepared by the Holy See with all due prudence, did not occur without opposition—more or less open—from local ecclesiastical hierarchies, particularly the legates-nati, who saw in the new institution the end of their own authority. Already M. A. de Dominis, Richer, and Febronius had denied the Apostolic See the right to send permanent legates or nuncios, arguing that this would constitute an abusive limitation of episcopal rights. The supporters of Gallicanism even went so far as to assert that the popes had no power to send their own representatives—nuncios with jurisdiction—even in extraordinary circumstances and for their duration, unless with the consent of the Most Christian King. Yet even in 1786, the establishment of the nunciature in Munich gave the metropolitans of Mainz, Trier, Cologne, and Salzburg occasion to speak out once more and openly against apostolic nunciatures. Pius VI defended the institution with his supreme authority and solid doctrine (v. EMESA, PUNCTATIONS OF).
The errors of the Gallicans were taken up again in Italy by regalists and liberals, who held that the institution of nuncios, as well as authorizing a legate to exercise individual acts of ecclesiastical governance, depended on the consent of the governments of the respective states. Beyond what has already been said, it must be noted that, because of the universal jurisdiction that belongs to the Pope over the entire Church, his representatives are never sent to territories outside the Church, nor to those excluded from his supreme and spiritual authority. Consequently, the Supreme Pontiffs have the right to send their representatives—whether with or without ecclesiastical jurisdiction—anywhere, even without the authorization of the civil authority (can. 265).
Nunciatures generally did not arise from a single act or founding decree, but from the sending of an extraordinary representative with a specific mandate; this mandate was later expanded before the envoy’s return to Rome, and after the death or cessation of the mandate, another envoy followed, so that the representation passed from extraordinary to ordinary and from temporary to permanent. In other cases, a permanent representative was followed by an extraordinary envoy. This made it impossible, at least in general terms, to establish the date of origin of permanent nunciatures; it can, however, be recognized that the new institution took shape around the mid-15th century. Some hold that Antonio Jacopo de Veneri, in Spain under the pontificate of Nicholas V, should be considered one of the first nuncios in the modern sense, though the initial stability of this representation is debatable. It is certain, however, that A. Leonini was in Venice in 1500 as a permanent nuncio with all the attributes of the Pope’s diplomatic representative. The nunciature of Germany is traced back to Lorenzo Campeggi, sent by Leo X in 1513 to Emperor Maximilian. Subsequently, the Lutheran movement and the need to defend the very life of the Church in the various nations of Europe hastened the transformation of nunciatures from temporary to permanent. The nunciature of Madrid, in addition to many and extraordinary faculties—enhanced in 1766 by Clement XIII—was joined to the tribunal of third instance, known as the Rota of the Nuncio of Madrid (v. ROTA, SACRA ROMANA). Despite this, in October 1801 the Spanish government asked Pius VII to consider the nuncio as a mere ambassador of the Pope in his capacity as a temporal prince. On 9 January 1802, Cardinal Consalvi replied that His Holiness’s temporal sovereignty is purely secondary to his supreme apostolate. Since, in fact, the foundation of the Church’s international juridical personality is not—unlike that of states—territorial sovereignty but spiritual sovereignty, the Holy See continued to exercise its right of active and passive legation even when, between 1870 and 1929, its territorial sovereignty was in fact impeded.
Leo X is regarded as the founder of modern papal diplomacy, his work being continued by Pius IV with the assistance of his nephew, Cardinal Carlo Borromeo. The complete organization of the Holy See’s diplomatic representations, however, is the merit of Gregory XIII, who not only greatly increased the number of nunciatures (to thirteen) but, through Tolomeo Gallio, defined their functions, distinguished their ranks, and established their protocol.
At present, apostolic nunciatures are divided into those of the first and second class. Their diplomatic staff, in addition to the nuncio (v.) or internuncio (v.) who heads them, consists of counsellors (only in nunciatures of the first class), auditors, and secretaries.
A. Giobbio, *Diplomazia ecclesiastica*, Rome 1890; id., *Lezioni di diplomazia ecclesiastica*, ibid. 1904; P. Richard, *Origines des nonciatures permanentes. La représentation pontificale au XVe siècle*, in *Rev. d'hist. eccl.*, 7 (1906), pp. 52 ff., 317 ff.; 11 (1910), pp. 56 ff., 505 ff.; id., *Origines de la Nunciature de France. Nounces résidants avant Léon X*, in *Rev. des quest. hist.*, 34 (1905), pp. 103 ff.; 36 (1906), pp. 112 ff.; H. Biandet, *Les nunciatures apostoliques permanentes jusqu'en 1648*, in *Études Romaines des annales de l'Acad. des scien. de Finlandie*, Helsinki 1910; L. Karttunen, *Les nunciatures apostoliques permanentes de 1650 à 1800* (continuation of the preceding) in *Études cit.*, Geneva 1912; A. Wynen, *Die Päpstliche Diplomatik*, Freiburg in Br. 1922; Dino Staffa