Vatican diplomacy Archives

Ending human trafficking requires everyone’s efforts, archbishop says
- Catholic News Agency, Global Church, Vatican
- September 22, 2017
Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States, emphasized the importance of “multi-pronged strategies” to prevent human trafficking and aid the affected victims, and he noted the special role of women and religious personnel in offering an avenue of trust. Speaking at the UN, the archbishop said the Catholic Church is collaborating “with both the public and private sectors, including with government authorities” to help fight the crime.
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Vatican signs treaty to ban nuclear weapons
- Catholic News Service, Global Church, Vatican
- September 22, 2017
Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Vatican foreign minister, signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the United Nations Sept. 20. “Nuclear arms offer a false sense of security,” the archbishop said. “Peace and international stability cannot be founded on mutually assured destruction or on the threat of annihilation.”
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Pope trip to Congo won’t happen until after elections, says Vatican ambassador
- Global Church
- September 19, 2017
Archbishop Luis Mariano Montemayor, the papal nuncio to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, says there is a danger that if Pope Francis visits the country before elections are organized, politicians could use the visit to score political points. He also called the Congo a “predatory state” where politicians are more concerned about amassing wealth than taking care of the needs of the people.
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For the first time, the papal nuncio to Italy is not Italian

The appointment of a Swiss bishop as Italy’s apostolic nuncio ends the so-called “Italian exception.” Since Italy and Holy See established full diplomatic ties in 1929, nuncios to Italy have always been of Italian nationality. This was an “exception” because the Holy See usually desires that the “pope’s ambassador” be of a nationality different from that of the country he is appointed to, in order to avoid any “national” influence in diplomatic affairs.

Vatican calls on United States, other countries, to join cluster bomb ban

Vatican

September 7, 2017

The Vatican is appealing to all countries outside the convention to ban cluster bombs to consider “joining the global efforts and our common goal in building together a more humane, more secure and more cooperative world,” adding, “We owe this to the too many victims of the past and to prevent further victims.”

Efforts to mend China-Vatican rift seem stalled over bishops

China and the Vatican have had no formal relations for nearly seven decades, since Beijing ordered Chinese Catholics to cut ties with the Holy See soon after the foundation of the Communist state in 1949. Years of persecution followed, until Mao Zedong’s death 40 years ago led to the reopening of churches and freeing of imprisoned priests, some for decades, under the party’s anti-foreign and anti-religious policies. Popes from John Paul II onward have expressed hope for restoring diplomatic ties.