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Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Part of UK in Holy See

26th February 2014

The Consistory: Global and Local

Cardinal Vincent Nichols. Photo: © Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk

If anyone doubts the global nature of the Roman Catholic Church, they had only to attend the Consistory on 22 and 23 February, when Pope Francis created 19 new Cardinals from the senior bishops around the world. The 16 ‘working’ Cardinals in Pope Francis’s first list now take their part amongst the 120 or so Cardinal-electors in the Sacred College of Cardinals, which represents the principal body of senior advisors for the Pope and the Holy See.

Amongst the new Cardinals were the first ever from Burkina Faso and Haiti, both known for their work with the poor. Archbishops from Korea and the Philippines represented Asia. The Archbishop of Abidjan in Ivory Coast also received a red hat, as did senior Churchmen from Santiago in Chile, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Buenos Aires in Argentina and Managua in Nicaragua. Germany, Italy and England provided the European contingent. The Archbishop of Quebec represented North America.

Their supporters from all around the world filled St Peter’s Basilica. It was a truly international occasion, even down to the liturgy: I recall that on 23 February the prayers of the faithful were in Korean, Chinese, Portuguese, French and Indonesian.

It was also a very English occasion (I use the word advisedly, as the English and Welsh bishops’ conference on the one side, and the Scottish on the other, have been separate since the re-establishment of the Catholic Church hierarchies in the United Kingdom in the 19th century). At the Mass in St Peter’s on 23 February there were two English cardinals in the Basilica, the newly created Cardinal Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, and his predecessor as Archbishop, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the first time there have been two living English Cardinals since Manning and Newman in the late 19th century.

The Sistine Chapel Choir, the Pope’s Choir, was joined in the Basilica by the Westminster Cathedral Choir, and the Psalm was sung beautifully in English (by a Westminster chorister) possibly for the first time since the Beatification of 85 English martyrs in 1988. The servers, young priests in training chosen to assist the principal celebrant in the service, were provided by the English seminary in Rome, the Venerable English College.

It was an event that therefore managed to encapsulate the uniquely global and simultaneously local identity of the Catholic Church, and the Holy See. On the one hand, the universal Church, with over 400,000 priests and 5,000 bishops around the world, led by an Argentinean Pope. On the other, a strong local presence, with each national Church celebrating its own traditions, perspectives, history and language under the overarching Catholic roof. There will always be tensions between global and local, but that rich combination of identities remains a particular strength for the Holy See. As the Catholic Church grows beyond its traditional base, that reality is only likely to become more complex in the years ahead.

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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