 His Minister for Foreign Affairs Desmond FitzGerald was sent to the Holy See to put forward the government’s point of view and its opinion of Monsignor Luzio.In turn when Luzio returned to the Holy See he was reported to have said that when he came to Ireland to meet the 26 bishops in the country, he had instead "found 26 Popes".This was in part because the commencement of diplomatic relations after Ireland's War of Independence most Irish bishops felt that a nunciature would reduce their authority.