Gaetano Alibrandi (14 January 1914 – 3 July 2003) of the Roman Catholic Church was a senior papal diplomat and former Personal Secretary to Giovanni Battista Cardinal Montini (later Pope Paul VI).

This was a challenging time for the Church in Ireland then led by Cardinal William Conway as it adjusted to both the internal changes generated by the Second Vatican Council and the wider social changes.

O'Mahony observed in The Tablet "although he rarely gave interviews, and never overtly intervened in policy-making or in public controversies, it is beyond dispute that Archbishop Alibrandi wielded considerable influence behind the scenes.

The Church Confronts Modernity: Catholicism Since 1950 in the United States, Ireland, and Quebec He had “a very testy relationship with three Taoisigh – Jack Lynch, Liam Cosgrave and Garret FitzGerald”.

[1] It was reported in September 2012 during the second Dr Garret FitzGerald Memorial Lecture at University College Cork by Seán Donlon, former secretary general at the Department of Foreign Affairs, that "It came to our [Department of Foreign Affairs] attention that a substantial amount in three bank accounts in Dublin [held by the archbishop] were way in excess of what was needed to run the nunciature.