Diplomatic mission of the Holy See to several Caribbean nations
The Apostolic Delegation to the Antilles represents the interests of the Holy See to officials of the Catholic Church, civil society, and government offices in several nations in the region with which the Holy See has not established diplomatic relations. The position of Apostolic Delegate is not a diplomatic one, though the Delegate is a member of the diplomatic service of the Holy See.
On 7 December 1925 Pope Pius XI established a Delegation to the Antilles seated in Havana with responsibility for the greater and lesser Antilles.[1] After thirteen years the Holy See determined that no one individual could be expected to visit the remote locations of the Antilles by boat and divided responsibly for the Greater and Lesser Antilles among several nunciatures and delegations. On 10 August 1938, the Holy See suppressed the Delegation to the Antilles and divided responsibility with the following assignments: Jamaica and British Honduras to the Nunciature to Cuba; Barbados and the islands belonging to Venezuela to the Nunciature to Venezuela; the rest of the Lesser Antilles and the island of Puerto Rico and its associated territories to the jointly led Nunciatures to the Dominican Republic and Haiti; Bermuda to the Delegation to Canada and Newfoundland; and the Bahamas to the Delegation to the United States.[2][a]
The title Apostolic Delegate to the Antilles is held by the prelate appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Trinidad and Tobago; he resides in Trinidad and Tobago.
^The clear misreading of the 1938 decree that asserts that responsibility for the Antilles was assigned to the Nunciatures to Cuba and Haiti originates in 1957 with De Marchi's Nunziature Apostoliche.[3] Those two nunciatures were never led by the same diplomat. By contrast, the 1938 decree assigned territories to the joint control of the Nunciatures to the Dominican Republic and Haiti, which were led by the same appointees at the time and for another fifteen years: Giuseppe Fietta (1930–36), Maurilio Silvani (1936–42); Alfredo Pacini (1946–49); Francesco Lardone (1949–53).
^ abActa Apostolicae Sedis(PDF). Vol. XXX. 1938. pp. 296–7. Retrieved 8 July 2020. Nuntiaturae Apostolicae penes Rempublicam Cubanam assignantur: Iamaica insula cum territoriis ei annexis et Honduras Britannicum. / Apostolicae Nuntiaturae penes Respublicas de Haiti et Dominicanam addicuntur etiam Insula de Puerto Rico cum territoriis ei annexis, omnes parvae Antillae, exceptis insula de Barbados et insulis Poederatis Venezuelas Civitatibus annexis, quae ad Apostolicam Nuntiaturam de Caracas pertinent. / Insulae denique Bermudenses pergunt sub ditione Apostolicae Delegationis Canadensis et Terrae Novae esse, insulae autem de Bahama sub ditione Apostolicae Delegationis Foederatarum in America septentrionali Civitatum.
