The Vatican's No. 2

For the first time in the history of the Roman Catholic Church, the second most important man in the Vatican is a Kentucky Colonel. He is also an honorary chief of the Osage Indians. For last week Pope John XXIII named as his Secretary of State--to succeed Domenico Cardinal Tardini, who died at the end of July--a man who had been apostolic delegate to the U.S. for a quarter of a century: Amleto Giovanni Cardinal Cicognani.

Everybody was surprised. The obvious choice was Milan's charming and brilliant archbishop, Giovanni Cardinal Montini, 63; he had been mentioned as a candidate for the post during the reign of Pius XII, who was his own Secretary of State. Cardinal Cicognani seemed hardly in the running; he is 78, for one thing, and his long association with the U.S. might seem too obvious a bid for diplomatic relations with Washington. But after Pope John had confirmed his reputation for unpredictability by naming Cardinal Cicognani, Vatican hindsighters were quick to see how brilliant the choice had been.

A Deft Touch. In addition to his close knowledge of the increasingly important American branch of Catholicism, Cardinal Cicognani, Secretary of the Sacred Congregation for the Eastern Church during the past four years, has become an expert on the difficult relationships in the Middle East and the Communist countries. He will thus be a valuable right hand for John during the forthcoming Ecumenical Council. In a high and delicate policy post requiring a sure and diplomatic touch, Cicognani can provide the needed deftness.

Diplomat Cicognani was born in the small central Italian town of Brisighella, where his widowed mother ran a general store to support her two sons. Both of them became priests and distinguished themselves in Vatican affairs. Pope Pius XI sent Amleto to the U.S. as apostolic delegate in 1933. Brother Gaetano, now Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Rites at the Vatican, was made a cardinal in 1953-In Washington, Cicognani began his day at 6 a.m. and expected his associates to do the same. He delivered more than 4,000 speeches, consecrated 56 U.S. bishops, and ordained 800 priests. He became known as the top authority on the history of Catholicism in the U.S.; his book on the lives of U.S. candidates for sainthood, Sanctity in America, became a Catholic bestseller.

Two Other Jobs. One of John's first acts as Pope was to bring Cicognani back to Rome in 1958 and make him a cardinal, overruling Article 232 of canon law, which prohibits brothers, first cousins, or an uncle and a nephew, from being cardinals simultaneously, as had previously been done by both Leo XIII and Pius XI, but to Gaetano Cardinal Cicognani the law was a constant source of worry and chagrin because it seemed to curb his talented brother. Once at a dinner a fellow prelate had jokingly said to Gaetano: "Because of you, your brother cannot become cardinal." Gaetano came close to bursting into tears and could not finish his meal.

At the same time that Cicognani became Secretary of State last week, the Pope named him president of the Pontifical Commission for the Administration of Vatican City (replacing Nicola Cardinal Canali, who died five days after Tardini), and president of the Cardinal's Commission for Administration of the Goods of the Holy See. In short, he became in one moment foreign minister, prime minister and interior minister of the Vatican state --another step in Pope John's effort to streamline the ancient administrative structure of the Holy See. In praise of the papal appointment, L'Osservatore Romano noted that frequently "these singular persons who spring somewhat unexpectedly into universal attention from a life of discreet and modest silence reveal themselves to be rich in preparation, experience and endowment of mind and heart which makes them worthy of momentous responsibilities."

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