predecessor birth_place title article_title type see term birth_date ordination name church
none castellazzo bormida , italy 25px titular archbishop of lauriacum girolamo prigione
 bishop titular see of lauriacum 1968 - 1997 12 october 1921 18 may 1944 girolamo prigione roman catholic church
girolamo prigione

girolamo prigione , -lrb- born 12 october 1921 -rrb- is an italian prelate of the roman catholic church .
prigione was born in castellazzo bormida and ordained a priest on 18 may 1944 .
prigione was appointed titular archbishop of the `` lauriacum '' as well as apostolic nuncio of el salvador and guatemala on 27 august 1968 .
he was consecrated a bishop on 24 november 1968 .
prigione was appointed apostolic delegate to ghana and nigeria .
he was then appointed apostolic delegate to mexico on 7 february 1978 , during the pontificate of paul vi .
after the 33 day papacy of john paul i , prigione played an important role in implementing major changes in the church 's direction under john paul ii , clamping down on liberation theology and reasserting papal primacy .
when archbishop of chihuahua adalberto almeida y merino denounced electoral fraud in the 1986 gubernatorial elections , he announced the closing on churches in the diocese on july 20 .
prigione moved to avert a replay of the church-state conflict of the late 1920s .
during this period the vatican and the mexican government had no diplomatic relations , so prigione functioned as church `` liaison to the regime on an unofficial basis , with a view to winning diplomatic recognition of the vatican and improving the status of the church in mexico . ''
his power came directly from the pope , so his actions were not mediated by the mexican hierarchy .
prigione is considered to be the key player in the change in attitude and in action of the mexican state ; he was engaged in secret talks with the government the month before the inauguration of president carlos salinas de gortari in december 1988 .
diplomatic relations were established with the vatican , but also major changes in the mexican constitution of 1917 , which had stringent anticlerical articles .
he became apostolic nuncio to mexico when diplomatic relations were restored in 1992 .
he retired on 2 april 1997 .
