30th January 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The UK is one of 31 members of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), an intergovernmental body born in 1998 to expand Holocaust education worldwide, and to secure political and social leaders’ support behind the need for Holocaust education, remembrance and research both nationally and internationally. In February this year we will take over the rotating […]
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19th August 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
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 […]
Read more on Learning about the Holy See from outside: Resilience and the Power of Music | Reply
14th August 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The following is a guest blog by Steve Townsend, Deputy Head of Mission. It was announced this week that the Bishop of Northampton has started the investigation whether there is a case for canonisation for G K Chesterton. This prompted me to go back to his best-loved creation, and one of my favourite fictional characters, […]
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8th August 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
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 […]
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31st July 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
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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26th June 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
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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27th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
As Rome prepares for Easter – a time that Christians have always considered to be one of renewal and rebirth – there is a palpable feel across the global religious map of a recharging of batteries, a resurgence of hope, and new leaders reinvigorating the faithful of different religious traditions. We have a new Pope, […]
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4th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Benedict XVI has stepped down. We await the election of his successor. But life and business at the Holy See, at least for this Embassy, go on – almost as usual. On 1 March, St David’s day, I attended and chaired the afternoon session of a one day conference organised by the Tony Blair Faith […]
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24th January 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Earlier this week, I was in London to attend and address the first ever course run by the Foreign Office on religion and foreign policy. The particular focus was on the issue of freedom of religion or belief, but the wider goal of the course is to help British diplomats understand better the importance of […]
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9th January 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
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 […]
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