9th July 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
It is estimated that 750,000 people are killed each year in armed violence. Millions more lives are blighted through injury, displacement and destroyed livelihoods. Much effort in multilateral negotiation goes in to the control and regulation of weapons of mass destruction. But, in fact, it is the so-called small and conventional arms that are the […]
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2nd July 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
In the joint communiqué signed between the British Government and the Holy See in February this year, both sides committed to “working together to combat intolerance and discrimination based on religion, wherever it is manifest”. This was a significant promise. What does it mean in practice? In essence, it means working together multilaterally and internationally […]
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25th June 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I was discussing ecumenism recently with a senior official of the Holy See. We agreed that while there is ongoing much useful discussion between representatives of different denominations – inter-Christian ecumenical dialogue has been one of the great fruits of the Second Vatican Council – there needed to be more “doing together” as well as […]
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18th June 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Recent media comment on the Vatican and the Holy See has been dominated by speculation relating to the ‘Vatileaks’ scandal, or events at the IOR, the so-called ‘Vatican Bank’. This is unfortunate. Whatever the substance behind such stories, and however fascinating, there is a great deal more to the work of the global Catholic Church, […]
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11th June 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
In his 2011 message for World Peace Day, Pope Benedict emphasised the role of the family as “the school of freedom of peace”, the bedrock of our social fabric. His Holiness added that the family founded on marriage was “the expression of the close union and complementarity between a man and a woman”. The practice […]
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7th June 2012
Geneva, Switzerland
The much awaited second round of the Universal Periodic Review finished its first session on Monday. There’s general agreement in these parts that the UPR has been a big success since it began 4 years ago, so the second round began with more excitement than you get at a diplomat’s house on Eurovision night. Without […]
Read more on Walking the UPR walk and mounting the pressure on Syria | Reply
5th June 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
This is a week of celebration in the United Kingdom and across the 15 independent realms of which The Queen is Head of State (including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Jamaica). We are celebrating Her Majesty the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. And in so doing, we are also celebrating the stability and evolution of the British […]
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30th May 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Seven members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Holy See have just visited the Vatican. In a whistle-stop tour, they were able to meet a range of important Holy See officials, including calls at the Secretariat of State and, separately, at Caritas Internationalis. They were also presented to Pope Benedict at the General […]
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21st May 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
21 May represents 100 days to go to the start of the Paralympic Games in London. The Paralympics are sometimes seen as an afterthought to the “main” Olympic event. This will not be the case for London 2012. As I told Vatican Radio, London 2012 are the first Games that bring the organisation of the […]
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18th May 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The acronym stands for “Istituto per le Opere di Religione”, or Institute for Religious Works. A typical Pontifical Institution, you might think, running standard charitable activities on behalf of good causes. Well, the I.O.R. does that too. But it is better known, if misleadingly, as “the Vatican Bank”. This week, Ambassadors accredited to the Holy […]
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