Businessman, GOP donor reportedly to be Vatican ambassador

Published: 2005-05-23

ROME (CNS) -- A U.S. businessman whose company has offices in Oklahoma and Florida and who was a financial backer of Republican candidates, including President George W. Bush, is expected to be nominated as the next U.S. ambassador to the Vatican. Francis Rooney III, the chief executive officer of Rooney Holdings, an investment and holding company with offices in Tulsa, Okla., and Naples, Fla., will likely be named to the vacant seat at the U.S. embassy before June 1, according to sources in Rome. News organizations in Rome first reported in April that Rooney, a Catholic, had been chosen to replace Jim Nicholson, now U.S. secretary of veterans affairs. As of May 23, the White House had not announced the appointment or said when one might be made. Rooney reportedly has completed a State Department course for new ambassadors. The State Department would not comment on that report from a Vatican source.

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