• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, the Vatican foreign minister, speaks with people attending a conference on Vatican diplomacy during the pontificate of Pope Pius XII at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome April 18, 2024. (CNS photo/Carol Glatz)

Faith and peace meet in papal diplomacy, archbishop says

April 22, 2024
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
Filed Under: News, Vatican, World News

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

ROME (CNS) — The pope’s diplomats are men of faith located all over the world to uphold the pope’s positions on international matters, to edify the universal church and to serve the Gospel, said Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, the Vatican foreign minister.

Vatican diplomacy is a vocation with a spiritual mandate, he said April 18 in the opening speech at an international conference on “Vatican Diplomacy and the Shaping of the West during the Pontificate of Pius XII,” held at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University.

Throughout Western history, “in which spirituality acts as a leaven, the evangelization activity of the church’s diplomatic work played an important role,” he said.

Whether it was a temporary envoy, an apostolic legate or a papal nuncio, that is, a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a nation or an international organization, he said they all were driven by “the constant prerogative of the Roman Pontiff to express the right of both active and passive legation in order to obey the words of Jesus Christ: ‘Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature'” (Mk. 16:15).

Nonetheless, Archbishop Gallagher said, “papal diplomacy, which like any other diplomacy makes use of secular means in order to achieve a political aim abroad, cannot be limited to the propagation of the faith and its success should not be measured in terms of the propagation of the faith.”

In fact, he said, the Vatican’s diplomatic efforts also “must pay the normal costs of all diplomatic negotiations” but without neglecting theological truths which are necessary to ensure the peaceful coexistence of the Catholic Church in relation to the state.

That continued to be the foundation from which the Vatican operated during the pontificate of Pope Pius XII — a time when the epicenter of “the West” shifted from European powers like Great Britain and France, to the United States, he said.

As eastern Europe came under Soviet control, the Vatican remained “faithful to its tradition of not initiating a break” in relations and sought to keep its representatives in those nations, he said. “It was the decision of others to expel or distance diplomatic representatives from the Soviet bloc like in Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia, etc.”

No matter the nationality or background of a papal diplomat, the archbishop said, he is there to represent the international position of the pope, that is, the vicar of Christ, “who came to serve and not to be served.”

That is why a nuncio seeks to know the people in the country where he is sent — “their psychology, nature, history, institutions and all areas of life; he must win the sympathy of those entrusted to his care,” he said.

A nuncio must also be open to all current and pressing problems and their historical roots, he said, so he can anticipate their future developments to prepare Catholic leaders and the faithful for what lies ahead.

Quoting Pope Francis’ 2013 speech to diplomats from other countries accredited to the Holy See, the archbishop said, “There is no true peace without truth!”

In the work of diplomacy, he said, quoting the pope, “the role of religion is fundamental. It is not possible to build bridges between people while forgetting God.”

Read More Vatican News

Stop the hatred; humanity is at stake, Pope Leo says in video message

New Catholic scouting patch honors Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo visits Italian Carabinieri station, Poor Clares during summer break

Caring for others, serving life is the ‘supreme law,’ pope says

Jesus did not ignore those in need, and neither should Christians, pope says

Cardinal Czerny asks church to remember seafarers on Sea Sunday

Copyright © 2024 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Carol Glatz

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Hunt Valley parishioner recalls her former student – a future pope

  • superman Movie Review: ‘Superman’

  • Deacon Gary Elliott Dumer Jr., active in men’s ministry, dies

  • Loyola University Maryland graduate ordained Jesuit priest

  • Pope Leo visits Italian Carabinieri station, Poor Clares during summer break

| Latest Local News |

Father Robert Wojsław dies at 52

Scopes Monkey Trial ignited century-long debate on evolution and belief 

Deacon Gary Elliott Dumer Jr., active in men’s ministry, dies

Radio Interview: The music and ministry of Seph Schlueter

Hunt Valley parishioner recalls her former student – a future pope

| Latest World News |

Church of England weighs proposal to place St. Thomas More’s skull in shrine for veneration

Stop the hatred; humanity is at stake, Pope Leo says in video message

As excavation begins at Irish maternity home, Catholic experts urge fact-based news reporting

White House agrees to exempt PEPFAR from rescissions package

From Boston to Baton Rouge, faithful unite to help Texas flood victims

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Church of England weighs proposal to place St. Thomas More’s skull in shrine for veneration
  • Father Robert Wojsław dies at 52
  • Stop the hatred; humanity is at stake, Pope Leo says in video message
  • As excavation begins at Irish maternity home, Catholic experts urge fact-based news reporting
  • Question Corner: Can we bring the Precious Blood to the sick?
  • Impact of DOGE cuts on migrants, refugees
  • White House agrees to exempt PEPFAR from rescissions package
  • From Boston to Baton Rouge, faithful unite to help Texas flood victims
  • New Catholic scouting patch honors Pope Leo XIV

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en