3rd September 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
One of the highlights of the United Nations General Assembly in September will be an event hosted by Foreign Secretary William Hague and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to launch a high level political and ambitious declaration on the need to keep up the international momentum on tackling sexual violence in conflict. This event follows […]
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31st July 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The following is a guest blog by Steve Townsend, Deputy Head of Mission. It is difficult to think that I have already finished the first six months of my four-year posting to the Holy See. The time seems to flown past. Why did I apply for the job? I am interested in “soft power” – […]
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4th July 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Trafficking in human beings – for forced labour, for sex, for their organs – has been with us as long as one human has exploited another. That is no reason why we should resign ourselves to its existence in the 21st century. The British government sees tackling modern slavery as an important global priority. And yet, […]
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8th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
As we reflect on International Women’s Day, it seems clear to me that one of the tasks awaiting the successor to Benedict XVI will be to explore how the Holy See, and the Roman Catholic Church, can use better the talents, energy and loyalty of the women in its ranks. Anyone who works with the […]
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8th February 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
50 years ago, everyone in Rome was talking about “aggiornamento”. There is no English word that translates it perfectly, but in prosaic terms it means “bring up to date”, as well as “revision” or “renovation”. The word was used by Pope John XXIII to describe and set out the task of the Second Vatican Council. […]
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17th January 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
It is often said that the Holy See is a hybrid of the global and the local. This is true. On the one hand, its global diplomatic network reaches into every corner of the world through its Apostolic Nuncios (Holy See ambassadors) to the capillary branches of bishops, priests, religious and lay people that make […]
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9th January 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
As is traditional, earlier this week Pope Benedict XVI received ambassadors from the 179 countries accredited to the Holy See for his New Year’s address on Holy See concerns, interests and recommendations on the main foreign affairs issues of the day. Behind the pomp and circumstance of one of the great annual events of the […]
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5th October 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Amidst the media frenzy over the trial of the Pope’s butler, and betting shop speculation over the appointment of the next Archbishop of Canterbury, you could be forgiven for forgetting that the coming week will see a series of significant events and milestones: the Opening of the Synod of Bishops in Rome, the formal declaration […]
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5th September 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I am often asked why we have an Embassy to the Holy See. Sometimes the question is an expression of curiosity. Occasionally, it is a reflection of hostility to the Catholic church, or religion in general. The subtext is often a sense that religion is somehow irrelevant to modern public life, and that therefore a […]
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23rd August 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The Archbishop Emeritus of Westminster turns 80 on 24 August . This is an important milestone in any life, and it is a pleasure to be able to congratulate Cardinal Cormac on his birthday. But it is also a particularly significant moment in the life and career of a Cardinal. On that day, as with […]
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