U.S. Vatican embassy Rome relo draws criticism
Saint Paul tells the Christians at Rome to "welcome one another . . . as Christ welcomed you." Modern-day Romans will be called on to welcome the staff of the United States embassy to the Holy See after the State Department announced it's moving its Vatican mission into a larger compound . . .
"Welcome one another," Saint Paul tells the Christians at Rome, "as Christ welcomed you." Romans these days will be called on to welcome the staff of the United States embassy to the Holy See after the State Department announced it's moving its Vatican mission into a larger compound which includes the U.S. Embassy to Italy. The relocation has troubled several former U.S. ambassadors to the Vatican and also goes against the policy of the Holy See, which wants every country to put its missions to Italy and the Vatican in separate places.
The State Department says security and cost savings of $1.4 million a year were behind the move. Former U.S. Ambassador James Nicholson, however, called the move a “massive downgrade” in U.S.-Vatican ties, turning the Vatican embassy “into a stepchild of the embassy to Italy,” he said in an interview with the National Catholic Reporter. Other former U.S. representatives to the Vatican—Francis Rooney, Mary Ann Glendon, Raymond Flynn, Thomas Melady—also objected.
In the past the Vatican has insisted that countries maintain embassies to the Holy See and to Rome in different locations, but it hasn’t protested the current U.S. move. A State Department official said that while the embassies will be located on the same compound, the Vatican embassy will have separate entrances.
The safety of embassies has been a concern since the 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya. The U.S. has multiple embassies in places such as Brussels and Vienna.
Homily hint: The exact location of an embassy to the Vatican may not seem particularly earthshaking—the U.S. mission's move itself will be only one tenth of a mile—but it draws attention to the important role that the Holy See, the smallest internationally recognized independent state in the world, plays in international relations. Find out more about the activities of the Vatican's diplomatic arm, the Secretariat of State, on its website.
The State Department says security and cost savings of $1.4 million a year were behind the move. Former U.S. Ambassador James Nicholson, however, called the move a “massive downgrade” in U.S.-Vatican ties, turning the Vatican embassy “into a stepchild of the embassy to Italy,” he said in an interview with the National Catholic Reporter. Other former U.S. representatives to the Vatican—Francis Rooney, Mary Ann Glendon, Raymond Flynn, Thomas Melady—also objected.
In the past the Vatican has insisted that countries maintain embassies to the Holy See and to Rome in different locations, but it hasn’t protested the current U.S. move. A State Department official said that while the embassies will be located on the same compound, the Vatican embassy will have separate entrances.
The safety of embassies has been a concern since the 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya. The U.S. has multiple embassies in places such as Brussels and Vienna.
Homily hint: The exact location of an embassy to the Vatican may not seem particularly earthshaking—the U.S. mission's move itself will be only one tenth of a mile—but it draws attention to the important role that the Holy See, the smallest internationally recognized independent state in the world, plays in international relations. Find out more about the activities of the Vatican's diplomatic arm, the Secretariat of State, on its website.
Source: An article by Sarah Pulliam Bailey or Religion New Service