17th January 2013
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 […]
9th January 2013
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 […]
19th December 2012
70 years ago, Europe was the scenario for an unprecedented and horrific experiment: the systematic effort to exterminate an entire race. On 17 December, Foreign Secretary William Hague marked the 70th anniversary of a declaration by the Allies denouncing the barbarous and inhumane treatment of Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe – “the bestial policy of cold-blooded […]
11th December 2012
The British Foreign Office and the Canadian High Commission in London collaborated last week in a conference in London, under the aegis of Wilton Park, on the question of promoting freedom of religion or belief. Participants came together from across the world, and from a range of institutions – different faiths, different governments, and different […]
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29th November 2012
The following is a guest blog by Sr. Eugenia Bonetti. Human trafficking is one of the greatest affronts to human dignity of our time. It claims an estimated 27 million victims globally, primarily women and children, many forced into prostitution. And it is a lucrative trade, generating roughly $32 billion annually for well organized crime […]
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2nd November 2012
I often have to remind people that I am not accredited to the Vatican City State, but to the Holy See. This is an important difference. It means being accredited to the governance of the global Catholic Church including its 5,000 bishops, its capillary networks of nuncios, priests, religious and Catholic NGOs around the world, […]
15th October 2012
One of the great opportunities for an Ambassador to the Holy See is the access the role gives to the wider Holy See and Catholic networks. Some of these are integral to the outreach of the Holy See (such as the network of Apostolic Nuncios – Papal Ambassadors – managing relationships with 179 countries around […]
5th October 2012
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 […]