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Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Part of Stay Ahead of the Games UK in Holy See

19th April 2012

The Olympic spirit to build a better society

British Embassy Jakarta hosts mini Olympic Games with students. Image: UK in Indonesia copyright, all rights reserved

Justin Bedford, Deputy Head of Mission: The spectacle of the Olympic and Paralympic Games gives us a reminder of what sporting excellence should be all about: top-class competition, set within a spirit of friendship. This summer, just 100 days from today, the 2012 Olympic Games will open in London.

The last time London hosted the Games – in 1948 – the world was recovering from a catastrophic war. But even then the Games were an opportunity to look forward, not back. This time too we relish the prospect of great sporting achievements being played out before our eyes: world records, personal bests, or simply the pride of making it to the start line.

But beyond the sporting success, the Olympics and Paralympics provide an opportunity for us to contemplate some wider human qualities: commitment, fair play, teamwork, hospitality, setting a positive example. The Olympic spirit engenders all of these. And so it’s great to see that, through the More Than Gold initiative, the Catholic Church in the UK, together with other Christian denominations, will be using the backdrop of the 2012 Games to highlight the benefits of sport and to focus on some central themes for building a better society: community engagement, hospitality and service.

Internationally too we have seen how the Olympics can have a positive effect. Last summer I welcomed Lord Michael Bates to Rome during his “Walk for Truce” – a lone, unaided trek across Europe from Olympia to London, aimed at promoting the ancient tradition of calling a pause to conflicts for the duration of the Games. Late last year, for the first time, every country in the world signed up to the UN’s Olympic Truce Resolution, and in February 2012, in a joint communiqué with a group of visiting UK Government Ministers, the Holy See added its support. So we hope that, with just 100 days to go to before the opening of the London Games, people around the world will do what they can to implement the Olympic Truce.

Hosting the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be a proud moment for Britain. It’s shaping up to be a great event and, in the spirit of the Olympic Charter and the Olympic Truce, we look forward to welcoming the world to be part of it.

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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community deputy ambassador engagement justin bedford london London2012 olympic truce olympics paralympics Sport

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