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Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Part of UK in Holy See

13th March 2015

Two years of Pope Francis

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His Holiness Pope Francis

With some surprise, I have just woken up to the fact that we are celebrating two years since the election of Pope Francis, the first Pope from the New World. It is a cliché, but it really does seem just the other day that I – along with everyone else – was waiting for the white smoke to emerge from the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel , having absorbed the shock of Pope Benedict’s decision to step down.

There is a special genius about any ancient institution that has the ability to renew itself in response to the circumstances of the day. The Holy See has managed to do so countless times during its millennial history. And in Jorge Maria Bergoglio, the cardinals in Conclave managed to find the leader to help the Holy See adapt to the challenges of the 21st century. Pope Francis appears comfortable with critical developments like the shift in the balance from the Church of Europe to the Church of the wider world, and the voracious demands of an international media – and globalised public – desperate for authoritative global leadership figures.

They have been two busy years. This is a Pope who has not taken a holiday; who has travelled far more than anyone (perhaps even he) expected – Brazil, Sri Lanka, Philippines, South Korea, Turkey, Israel and Palestine, Jordan, Strasbourg and Sardinia, Assisi and Albania; who has launched the most comprehensive programme of reform and renewal of the Roman Curia since the Second Vatican Council; and who has presided over a new dynamic in Holy See diplomatic engagement from US-Cuba to climate change. He is listened to by non-Catholics as much as Catholics. He has had world leaders queuing up at his door.

And yet, like all modern Popes, Pope Francis is also a deeply counter-cultural figure. “Who is Jorge Maria Bergoglio?”, he was asked in his first major interview. “I am a sinner”, was the answer. The cardinal-electors managed to find a leader who would carry the Holy See into the new century. But they also found someone who rejected entirely its worst aspects: individualism, cupidity, indifference. In his embrace of the humility, poverty, spirituality and simplicity of the Saint of Assisi, Pope Francis – the head of the world’s greatest soft power network – helps to remind us why the Holy See, for all its worldly problems, is still with us today.

2 comments on “Two years of Pope Francis”

  1. congratulations ! May God protect you, give you health to continue your work with Gods people !
    May God abundantly bless you, and allow you to continue preaching the Good News to Gods people !

    I love you Pope Francis .

    Maria

  2. Very short but accurate description of the Holy Father’s life and Ministry during the past two years.
    ‘

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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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