28th December 2016 Holy See
At Christmas, Nativity scenes make their appearance in churches and homes across the world. In Italy there is a particularly strong tradition of presepio – some churches in Rome have exhibitions of historical and modern designs, and there are some streets on Naples which are full at this time of the year with thousands of […]
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30th December 2015
Pope Francis has spoken frequently of his belief that the current state of instability in the world, overlain by the global threat of terrorism, is something akin to a “third world war fought piecemeal”. In his message for the World Day of Peace, he noted that, “sadly, war and terrorism, accompanied by kidnapping, ethnic or […]
21st December 2015
As we celebrate Christmas, it is right to think of those Christian families who will find it difficult to enjoy the good cheer that we take for granted at this time. They are those who are being persecuted or discriminated against for their faith, who are refugees because they were forced to flee for their […]
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22nd December 2014
The end of the year is always a good moment to take stock, and that holds no less for embassies as for individuals. A few of our 2014 highlights: The large number of high level bilateral visits to the Vatican, topped of course by that of Her Majesty The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh […]
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3rd January 2014
The following is a guest blog by Steve Townsend, Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy to the Holy See. This has been my first Christmas and New Year at the Holy See. With services at St Peter’s Basilica on both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day, and the Urbi et Orbi message on […]
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31st December 2013 New Delhi, India
2013 has been quite a year for the UK Science and Innovation Network and our partners in India. In January, we took part in the visit of UK Health Minister, Anna Soubry. Health was a major theme of our work this year, which covered medical devices, regulations, an MoU signing, and preparations for workshops on […]
24th December 2013
Pope Francis places great emphasis in his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Guadium on communication. In large part, he declares, communicating the Gospel is the Church’s principal mission statement. This is not, of course, a new message, although the emphasis may be. But it was perhaps no coincidence that the Holy See recently announced that the means of communication […]
11th January 2012
The address of Pope Benedict XVI to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, at the start of each year, is always an opportunity to look ahead at the foreign policy challenges of coming months. 2012 was no exception, and I was struck by just how much of his Holiness’s wide ranging speech dovetailed […]
8th January 2012
Well it wasn’t quite a barbie on the beach: we still felt it wouldn’t be Christmas without roast turkey and all the trim, but it was nice to spend Christmas afternoon relaxing in the sunshine. In some ways Australian Christmas is quite similar to British ones, with parties and carol services. But it’s also the […]
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23rd December 2011 Washington DC, USA
In the spirit of the season, I offer up some gift suggestions that teach the most important economic lessons in a post for the Wall Street Journal’s Real Time Economics blog. Click through for more.
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