Phase two of Pope Francis’ diplomacy began with his advocacy of an intervention in Iraq. Anticipated by Archbishop Silvano Maria Tomasi, Holy See Permanent Observer at the UN Office in Geneva, Pope Francis launched the request in his flight back from South Korea. It was reiterated by the Secretary of State Pietro [...]
The “nota verbale” (verbal note) sent by the Vatican’s Secretariat of State to all the ambassadors accredited to the Holy See represents Pope Francis’ most recent initiative to promote peace. It is through persuasion, dialogue and prayer that Pope Francis hopes to influence current armed conflicts, to bring them to an end. In [...]
To canonize John XXIII and John Paul II at the same time, Pope Francis has not hesitated to slightly bypass canonization procedures in not waiting for confirmation of a second miracle attributable to John XXIII. And this was most certainly the right course to take. John XXIII and John Paul II are of [...]
Silvano Maria Tomasi, the Holy See Permanent Observer at the UN office in Geneva, provided the figures that tell better than anything else the presence and impact of the Church in the world. He did so in Geneva last week, during the 23rd session of the Human Rights Council. At the time of [...]
The Social Doctrine must be read and lived every day. Its key points come directly from the Gospel – the first and only source of inspiration of the Social Doctrine – and from there get to the key-words: person, subsidiarity, justice and peace, integral human development. These are the key words of the [...]
The Holy See’s International agenda? The common good. Dominique Mamberti, Secretary for Relations with States of the Vatican Secretariat of State, explained it in an insightful lecture on «The Social Doctrine of the Church in International Relations» to the young students of the Studium Aquinatis-Workshop on the Social Doctrine of the Church [...]
Within a political climate become red-hot because of next presidential elections on July, the 1st, Benedict XVI met the Mexican president Felipe Calderon. Then – on the initiative of the President Calderon himself – the Pope also met eight family members of the victim of the drug-trafficking. On that occasion, the Pope [...]
Next year, an important anniversary will be celebrated in the Vatican: it will be the 50th anniversary of the promulgation of the encyclical Pacem in terris, by John XXIII. And the Vatican decided to celebrate the anniversary his way: inviting the General Secretary of the United Nations Ban Ki Moon in Rome, [...]
Vatican State is still not in the “white list” of the virtous states for money laundering legislation. After the Monetary Convention of 17 December 2009 between Vatican City State and the European Union, and the new Vatican legislation for the prevention and countering of illegal activities in the financial and monetary sectors, Holy [...]