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 […]
25th October 2013
One intangible measure of the strength of a bilateral relationship is how far relations go beyond strict government to government formalities. Relations between the United Kingdom and the Holy See received a boost this week with a visit by 12 members of the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Holy See (APPG for short). The […]
16th October 2013
16 October is Blog Action Day, when bloggers across the world are encouraged to post on the same theme. I participated last year. As the theme for 2013 is “Human Rights”, as a blogger and as an Ambassador to the Holy See, I can hardly fail to do so again. I recommend to anyone interested […]
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27th September 2013
I suspect that until quite recently, not many people would have mentioned the Vatican in the same breath as the giants of global communications. Innovators like the BBC, global news operations like CNN, or social media like Facebook or Twitter. The Holy See speaks to us about tradition, the faith, the power of the pulpit. […]
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19th September 2013
I recently ran a competition on Twitter, inviting questions about the Holy See and the UK’s relationship with it. The response was impressive, with many searching questions. Below are the winners, their questions, and slightly lengthier answers than the 140 characters Twitter permits. Q. What made possible the great shift from historical anti-Catholicism to dialogue […]
19th August 2013
A holiday always provides a useful opportunity for a diplomat to look at his posting from a different perspective. My leave away from Rome this August has been no exception. While Pope Francis has been working hard in Rome and Brazil, I have been in Slovakia, and on 15 August I visited the Slovak pilgrimage […]
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8th August 2013
The following is a guest blog by Steve Townsend, Deputy Head of Mission. Pope Francis has signed the Holy See’s traditional message to the Muslims around the world who are celebrating the Eid al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan. The theme of his message is Promoting Mutual Respect through Education, and in it the Pope calls […]
31st July 2013
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
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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26th June 2013
The European Union – as an institution, and as individual member states – is often criticised for not doing enough to protect and promote freedom of religion and belief around the world. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is very clear on the issue, we are often reminded. And yet, the critics say, amongst the […]
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