H
HagiaSophia
Guest
Anyone here from the UK who can clarify this report - I know there is something going on behind the scenes, but can’t quite figure out what it is from this brief report.
"Britian’s next ambassador appointed to the Holy See may end a tradition
THE Vatican yesterday warned Britain against merging religious and diplomatic duties, when it selects its next ambassador to the Holy See from a range of candidates outside the Diplomatic Service.
A spokesman for the Vatican said that it had asked the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for “clarification” after Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, said in a statement that he would break with tradition and consider appointing a non-professional diplomat as Britain’s next envoy.
In a little-noticed passage this week on the shake-up of the Diplomatic Service, Mr Straw said there was “no question” of closing Britain’s Embassy to the Vatican. Rome is in the unusual position of having two British embassies, one to Italy, headed by Sir Ivor Roberts, and the other to the Holy See, headed by Kathryn Colvin.
But he said that Britain’s interests could be maintained “if we widen the pool of potential candidates” when a successor to Mrs Colvin is sought next year. She took up her post in Rome in September 2002 and is due to return to London next September.
Joaquín Navarro-Valls, the Pope’s chief spokesman, said the Vatican was studying Mr Straw’s remarks. “The text is on my desk” he told The Times. “We do not yet know what it means.” He tried to dampen speculation in Rome and London that Britain might ask a Church of England cleric to do the job. “The Church is one thing and the Government is another. The two cannot be confused,” he said."
timesonline.co.uk/article/0,3-1406545,00.html
"Britian’s next ambassador appointed to the Holy See may end a tradition
THE Vatican yesterday warned Britain against merging religious and diplomatic duties, when it selects its next ambassador to the Holy See from a range of candidates outside the Diplomatic Service.
A spokesman for the Vatican said that it had asked the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for “clarification” after Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, said in a statement that he would break with tradition and consider appointing a non-professional diplomat as Britain’s next envoy.
In a little-noticed passage this week on the shake-up of the Diplomatic Service, Mr Straw said there was “no question” of closing Britain’s Embassy to the Vatican. Rome is in the unusual position of having two British embassies, one to Italy, headed by Sir Ivor Roberts, and the other to the Holy See, headed by Kathryn Colvin.
But he said that Britain’s interests could be maintained “if we widen the pool of potential candidates” when a successor to Mrs Colvin is sought next year. She took up her post in Rome in September 2002 and is due to return to London next September.
Joaquín Navarro-Valls, the Pope’s chief spokesman, said the Vatican was studying Mr Straw’s remarks. “The text is on my desk” he told The Times. “We do not yet know what it means.” He tried to dampen speculation in Rome and London that Britain might ask a Church of England cleric to do the job. “The Church is one thing and the Government is another. The two cannot be confused,” he said."
timesonline.co.uk/article/0,3-1406545,00.html