26th January 2017 Skopje, North Macedonia
Last week I asked where you would like Macedonia to be in 2027. I illustrated the question with a vision of a country moving strongly forward. A successful European state, ahead of the pack in the Balkans, leading by example. Name issue resolved. In NATO. Negotiating with the EU. Of course, in an exercise like […]
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18th January 2017 Skopje, North Macedonia
High up in Macedonia’s Shar Planina mountains the air tastes like champagne. And after five hours of drinking it in, our walk today has left us tired but happy. It’s great to be back in Macedonia. It is nine years since I walked in the Shar Planina. Back then, when I was serving as British […]
30th November 2015 Geneva, Switzerland
The terror that stalked the music halls of Paris and the virus from Africa that reached the streets of Houston have something important in common. They both originated in fragile or failing states. Just as the refugees risking everything and the children facing famine are victims of this same fragility. The British Government published three […]
12th August 2015 Chevening, UK
In a world full of social, political, and economic challenges that transcend geographic boundaries, the international community requires new and diverse perspectives to resolve urgent global issues. The 193 member states of the United Nations recently came to a consensus on 17 sustainable development goals that the international community will commit to tackling by 2030. […]
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10th July 2015
The following is a guest blog by Steve Townsend, Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy to the Holy See Pope Francis is currently in Latin America, visiting Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay. There is a particular interest for me, as I spent over three years in Bolivia as Deputy Head of Mission, which left me with many […]
21st May 2015
This week I attended an important conference at the Pontifical Santa Croce University, on “The New Climate Economy. How Economic Growth and Sustainability Can Go Hand in Hand”. It was jointly organised by the Dutch Embassy to the Holy See and the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and brought together leading political figures, business […]
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23rd March 2015
Pope Francis is a powerful campaigner against corruption; the exploitation by the powerful of the vulnerable, the poor and the weak. He returned to this theme again on his recent visit to Naples, a city blighted by the corrupting influence of organised crime. “Corruption stinks”, he said, “corrupt society stinks and a Christian who lets […]
31st January 2015
Let’s imagine a Turkey almost 10 years from now, in 2023. The years since 2015 have been tough for the Turkish economy, as for all countries. But the people of Turkey have risen magnificently to the challenge. By 2023, buoyed by high rates of economic growth for each of the last eight years, nominal GDP has more […]
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20th January 2015
Earlier this week, the embassy co-hosted with the Pontifical Gregorian University – the university in Rome run by the Jesuits – an event to commemorate the bicentenary of the decision by Pope Pius VII to re-establish the Society of Jesus in 1814, 41 years after its suppression by Pope Clement XIV. This was much more […]
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13th January 2015
The title may have startled you. It was Pope Innocent III, back in the 13th century, who declared that as ‘Vicar of Christ’ the Pope had received from God “not only the universal church but the whole world to govern”. Even at the time, secular rulers begged to differ, leading to centuries of competition for […]