Antonio Caggiano
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His Eminence Antonio Caggiano |
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|---|---|
| Cardinal, Archbishop of Buenos Aires | |
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| 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 priest of San Lorenzo in Panisperna |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Antonio Caggiano |
| Born |
January 30, 1889 Coronda, Santa Fe Province, Argentina |
| Died | October 23, 1979 (aged 90) Buenos Aires |
| Buried | Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral |
| Nationality | Argentine |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic Church |
| Alma mater | Seminary of Santa Fe |
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Styles of Antonio Caggiano |
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|---|---|
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| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | Buenos Aires |
Antonio Caggiano (30 January 1889 – 23 October 1979) was an archbishop and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church in Argentina. He played a part in helping Nazi sympathisers and war criminals escape prosecution in Europe by easing their passage to South America.
Caggiano was born in Coronda, Santa Fe Province. He studied in the seminary of Santa Fe and 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 to Rome by the Argentine episcopacy, together with three other priests, in order to study the organization of the Azione Cattolica (the Italian Catholic Action). The Argentine Catholic Action was founded in 1931 following this model.
Caggiano was appointed the first bishop of the newly erected Diocese of Rosario on 13 September 1934, for which he was consecrated on 14 March 1935. Pope Pius XII elevated him to Cardinal on 18 February 1946.
In his 2002 book The Real OdessaUki Goñi showed that Argentine diplomats and intelligence officers had, on Perón'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 Cardinal Eugène 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, whose political attitude during 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, fascists and Vichy officials made it from Italy to Argentina in the same way: they were issued passports by the Rome ICRC office; 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 was Emile Dewoitine, who was later sentenced in absentia to 20 years hard labour. He sailed first class on the same ship back with Cardinal Caggiano.
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Wikipedia