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Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Part of UK in Holy See

28th October 2011

Pilgrims of Truth, Pilgrims of Peace

25 years to the day that Pope John Paul II hosted  an unprecedented gathering of world religious leaders in Assisi to pray for world peace, Pope Benedict XVI on 27 October hosted, in the same place, his own “Day of Reflection, Dialogue and Prayer for Peace and Justice in the World”. Again, leaders of the world’s faiths and religions were invited, with 400 special guests – or pilgrims –  including the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, other Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox Christian leaders, delegates representing Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Buddhism and other faiths. A new departure, apparently at the express wish of the Pope, was also to invite a small group of “non-believers”, agnostic humanists prepared to join this extraordinary assembly calling for peace, dialogue, justice, tolerance of diversity and environmental understanding.

There is always a danger that such an assembly can descend into platitudes. “So what?” one can hear hard-bitten politicians cry. But as an invited observer it was clear to me that the seriousness and solemnity of the engagement of the participants – who between them represented most of the world’s billions of believers – was both grounded and realistic.

Pope Benedict, in his address, tackled head on the accusation that religion is often a cause of violence. He acknowledged, “with shame”, that violence had been used through history in the name of Christianity. And he argued that it was the role of religious leaders to work to ensure that religion served as an instrument of peace.

For his part, the Archbishop of Canterbury argued that the world’s faiths, while recognising their distinctiveness, needed to demand a “common witness” from their followers to meet the challenges of intolerance, violence, war and disease, based on that mutual recognition of common humanity: “we cannot ultimately be strangers”.

The world will not change overnight because of Assisi. But it will change for the better if politicians, and people of faith (and none) were listening. The humanist and feminist Julia Kristeva called on us all to accept our responsibilities – “we are history”, not its servants. Assisi was a powerful affirmation of the best of human values.

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About Nigel Baker

Nigel was British Ambassador to the Holy See from 2011-2016. He presented his Credentials to Pope Benedict XVI on 9 September 2011, after serving 8 years in Latin America, as…

Nigel was British Ambassador to the Holy See from 2011-2016. He presented his Credentials to Pope Benedict XVI on 9 September 2011, after serving 8 years in Latin America, as Deputy Head of Mission in the British Embassy in Havana, Cuba (2003-6) and then as British Ambassador in La Paz, Bolivia (2007-11). In July 2016, Nigel finished his posting, and is currently back in London.

As the first British Ambassador to the Holy See ever to have a blog, Nigel provided a regular window on what the Embassy and the Ambassador does. The blogs covered a wide range of issues, from Royal and Ministerial visits to Diplomacy and Faith, freedom of religion, human trafficking and climate change.

More on Nigel’s career

Nigel was based in London between 1998 and 2003. He spent two years on European Union issues (for the UK 1998 EU Presidency and on European Security and Defence questions), before crossing St James’s Park to work for three years as The Assistant Private Secretary to His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. At St James’s Palace, Nigel worked on international issues, including the management of The Prince of Wales’s overseas visits and tours, on the Commonwealth, interfaith issues, the arts and international development.

Nigel spent much of the early part of his FCO career in Central Europe, after an initial stint as Desk Officer for the Maghreb countries in the Near East and North Africa department (1990-91). Between 1992 and 1996, Nigel served in the British embassies in Prague and Bratislava, the latter being created in 1993 after the peaceful division of Czechoslovakia into the separate Czech and Slovak Republics.

Nigel joined the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) in September 1989. Between 1996 and 1998 he took a two year academic sabbatical to research and write about themes in 18th century European history, being based in Verona but also researching in Cambridge, Paris and Naples. The research followed from Nigel’s time as a student at Cambridge (1985-88) where he read history and was awarded a First Class Honours degree, followed by his MA in 1992.

Before joining the Foreign Office, Nigel worked briefly for the Conservative Research Department in London at the time of the 1989 European election campaign.

Nigel married Alexandra (Sasha) in 1997. They have one son, Benjamin, born in Bolivia in September 2008.

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#peace assisi faith human interfaith interreligious Politics prayer religious truth

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