14th October 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
All the media focus here at the Vatican at the moment is on the cut and thrust of debate at the Synod of Bishops, meeting on the issue of the family. Amidst the coverage of differences between bishops, proposals on pastoral practice and doctrine, and the views of the Pope, one important dimension has been […]
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9th October 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
On 13 October there will be a High Level Review at the United Nations to commemorate 15 years since the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325. This was a ground breaking resolution that recognised not only the inordinate impact of war on women and girls, but also the pivotal role women should and do […]
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29th September 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
What does Pope Francis’s announcement of the Jubilee Year of Mercy mean for an embassy accredited to the Holy See? Above all, it means many more people coming to Rome, and specifically to the Holy Door of St Peter’s Basilica, not as tourists but as pilgrims. Our role, together with the British Embassy to Italy, […]
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21st September 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Just over ten years ago, the European Union embassies in Cuba, including the United Kingdom, were involved in a stand-off with the Cuban government in Havana that became immortalised as “the cocktail wars”. Despite the seemingly frivolous impression given of the spat (which concerned the invitation to embassy receptions of dissident Cubans), there were deadly […]
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16th September 2015
It is already five years since the historic visit of Emeritus Pope Benedict to England and Scotland. Shortly after David Cameron won the 2010 General Election, he asked me if I would co-ordinate government support for this visit. I agree on three conditions to which he readily acceded. First, I said that the Catholic hierarchy […]
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9th September 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
This blog needs no other title. We all know who we mean when we speak of The Queen. And there is plenty of information around the web at the moment (the BBC, for example, has many fascinating details about Her Majesty’s reign on its website). At 63 years seven months and counting, The Queen this […]
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1st September 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
There is plenty of bad news about. But let’s also celebrate the success stories. One such has been the partnership between the UK’s principal Catholic charities from the Caritas Internationalis family and the British government in their joint efforts to maximise funds raised by British donors to support projects benefiting some of the world’s poorest people. […]
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25th August 2015
On 25 August 1609, Galileo Galilei demonstrated his first telescope to the Venetian authorities. This invention opened up the skies, and piqued men’s interest in the planets and stars around us and beyond, which in turn has led to modern wonders such as men on the moon, the Hubble space telescope, the Rosetta mission to […]
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17th August 2015
One of the quirks of being posted to the Holy See is that it is one of the few in the world where Ambassador and Deputy Head of Mission regularly have to wear diplomatic uniforms. It comes as a surprise to many that the Foreign Office has a uniform at all – unless they had […]
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6th August 2015
The UK’s Modern Slavery Act came into force on 31 July This landmark legislation brought into law some important new provisions. These include mechanisms to seize traffickers assets and use those funds to help compensate victims, prevention orders to ensure that those who pose a risk of committing modern slavery offences cannot work sectors where they will […]
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