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Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Part of UK in Holy See

19th August 2013

Learning about the Holy See from outside: Resilience and the Power of Music

Young Musicians Practising in the Basilica of the Pilgrimage Site of Marianka, Slovakia

A holiday always provides a useful opportunity for a diplomat to look at his posting from a different perspective. My leave away from Rome this August has been no exception. While Pope Francis has been working hard in Rome and Brazil, I have been in Slovakia, and on 15 August I visited the Slovak pilgrimage site of Marianka near Bratislava.

The occasion was a music festival for young artists from across Central Europe, enjoying the extraordinary tranquillity of the Marianka site to improve their technique at masterclasses, perform to local audiences, and play together away from the hothouse atmosphere of conservatory and concert hall.

My own visit helped me better to understand two aspects of the role of the global church.

The first is its staying power. We all like to predict trends and tendencies. Religion is out in secular Europe, many believe. The Catholic Church is a declining force. Yet Marianka’s quiet resilience down the ages reminds us that to understand such an institution, we need to take the long view. The Pauline monastery of Marianka was shut down in 1786 by the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II as he sought to rationalise the church across his domains. It bounced back from that. Again, in 1950, the religious congregation running the shrine was abolished and scattered by the Czechoslovak Communist authorities. Yet as I look around the site now, there are all the signs of recovery. Workmen are renovating the monastery church and statuary in the valley. Pilgrims quietly follow their trail. Young musicians fill the halls with sound, as the religious Fathers go about their devotions. Temporary problems can rock the Holy See. But it draws deeply on a profound history of resilience and a powerful survival instinct.

The music itself provided the second lesson. Although it might be possible to try to write a history of western music without reference to the Christian faith, a great deal would be left out! Most of the great composers of the musical canon – at least before the mid 19th century – learned their craft in the chapel, the choir, the church, or at the organ. As I have seen in Rome, which is a magnet for visiting orchestras and choirs, the tradition of sacred music performance in Europe and beyond remains live and vibrant. Alongside other faith traditions, the role of the Holy See as a cultural guardian remains a vital one. It’s not just prayer that is important for our souls!

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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