Laghi was born in
Castiglione di Forlì,
Romagna, Italy. He was
ordained to the priesthood on 20 April 1946 by
Bishop Giuseppe Battaglia. He obtained doctorates in
theology (1947) and
canon law (1950) from the
Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. He entered the
Roman Curia, in the
Secretariat of State, in 1952, and then served as Secretary of the nunciature in
Nicaragua until 1955. Laghi was raised to the rank of
Domestic Prelate of His Holiness on 21 December 1965. On 24 May 1969, he was appointed
Apostolic Delegate to
Jerusalem and
Palestine, and
Titular Archbishop of Mauriana. Laghi received his
episcopal consecration on the following 22 June from
Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, with Archbishop
Agostino Casaroli and Bishop Giuseppe Battaglia (who had also ordained Laghi) serving as
co-consecrators. During five years in Jerusalem he served as
Pro-Nuncio to
Cyprus (28 May 1973) and
Apostolic Visitor for
Greece. Laghi was a personal friend of
Golda Meir. Laghi was named
Nuncio to
Argentina on 27 April 1974. His six years in Argentina coincided with the worst excesses of the
military dictatorship there in what is now known as the "
dirty war". Many in Argentina believe that the church hierarchy supported the generals in their misrule, and that Laghi – who played tennis regularly with one of the leaders of the junta, Admiral
Emilio Eduardo Massera – turned a blind eye to the murder and disappearances of thousands. "Perhaps I wasn't a hero", he later said of his time in Buenos Aires, "but I was no accomplice". The debate that his conduct generated was enough, however, to ruin any chance he ever had of becoming pope. In his book
In the Closet of the Vatican: Power, Homosexuality and Hypocrisy, Frédéric Martel alleges that Laghi was blackmailed by the Argentinean junta into not opposing them because of his use of so-called "
taxiboys". Pope John Paul II transferred him as Apostolic Delegate (10 December 1980) and later (26 March 1984) Pro-Nuncio to the
United States. In that role he helped place
conservatives in key positions, such as
Bernard Francis Law in Boston and
John Joseph O'Connor in New York City. On 6 April 1990, John Paul appointed Laghi
Pro-Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education. He made him
Cardinal-Deacon of
Santa Maria Auxiliatrice in via Tuscolana in the
consistory of 28 June 1991, despite the accusations by Argentine writers of links between him and the dictatorship and the "
Dirty War" in Argentina. On 1 July 1991, he was promoted to full congregation Prefect. On 26 December 1994, the American magazine
Time published an article titled "Who Will Be First Among Us?" which prematurely speculated on who would be the next pope "as John Paul approaches the twilight of his papacy." Laghi was listed among eight cardinals who were considered leading
candidates; the article identified Laghi as head of the Congregation for Catholic Education with conservative credentials. In 1997 the Dirty War scandal was widely exposed, and, though Laghi denied the charges, it was considered to have ended his chance for the
papacy. He headed the Congregation for Catholic Education until his resignation on 15 November 1999. From 1999 to 2001 he was the Cardinal Protodeacon (the longest serving Cardinal Deacon), before exercising his right as a Cardinal Deacon of ten years' standing to become a
Cardinal-Priest of
San Pietro in Vincoli. On his 80th birthday, 21 May 2002, he became ineligible to vote in a
papal conclave but continued to undertake special missions for his friend John Paul II. In 2000, Laghi was awarded the
F. Sadlier Dinger Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the ministry of religious education in America. On 1 March 2003, Laghi, as special papal envoy to the United States, met with
President George W. Bush and conveyed the Pope's request that the United States reconsider the decision to go to
war against Iraq. Bush was photographed with Laghi and commented that he was "an old family friend". During the presidency of Bush's father,
George H. W. Bush, Laghi, as Nuncio to the United States, was a frequent guest of Bush senior and his family. Laghi died in Rome on 10 January 2009, from a blood disorder, aged 86. ==References==