29th July 2015
“How do you define an extremist?”. I once asked this question of a wise friend of mine, who was always critical of imprecise language used by journalists to describe people who held different views. “An extremist”, he said, “is someone incapable of seeing the good in the other. He must therefore dedicate himself to attacking […]
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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11th June 2014
As the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict unfolds, I am delighted to give voice in my blog to a story from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Last week at Vatican Radio, a panel discussion showed that religious networks have a huge role to play to end the use of rape as a […]
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14th March 2013
It is the dream of every Ambassador to the Holy See to be in post for a Conclave. No one with a sense of history or occasion can possibly be disappointed by the event. There can be no election in the world that is held under conditions of such intense media scrutiny, and yet also […]