Letter from the Vatican: Common Objectives for Peace

Since it was established in 1984, the US Embassy to the Holy See has developed into an effective instrument of US foreign policy. Embassy Vatican, as it is usually known, is the point of contact between the world’s sole superpower, the United States, and one of the world’s most important moral voices, the Holy See under Pope John Paul II. The Holy See is the moral and spiritual leader of nearly one billion Roman Catholics worldwide, and has an influence on an even broader population. The Vatican’s views on regional conflicts, humanitarian issues, and questions of population and development can affect international support for US policies. The Pope’s moral leadership is important to our common objectives of peace, human rights, and humanitarian assistance. By engaging the Holy See in close and constant diplomatic dialogue, Embassy Vatican has promoted US policy goals of peace and stability in troubled regions, the growth of freedom and democracy, and the protection and promotion of human rights around the world.

One of the best examples of that dialogue came on November 27, 1995, when President Clinton explained to the American people his Bosnia policy. Speaking from the Oval Office, the President ended his nationally televised speech with these words:

A few weeks ago, I was privileged to spend some time with His Holiness Pope John Paul II when he came to America. At the end of our meeting, the Pope looked at me and said, “I have lived through most of this century. I remember that it began with a war in Sarajevo. Mr. President, you must not let it end with a war in Sarajevo.”

The President’s choice of words on that momentous occasion constitute for me the most eloquent explanation of the value to the United States Government of maintaining formal diplomatic relations with the Holy See. President Clinton, who met with Pope John Paul II three times in his first three years in office, has continued in the bipartisan tradition of Chief Executives, from Franklin Roosevelt and Truman to Nixon and Reagan, who have appreciated the potential for diplomatic links between the US and the Vatican in the interests of world peace and the promotion of human rights. The US Embassy to the Holy See, formally established in 1984, has become an increasingly effective instrument for diplomatic collaboration between the US and the Holy See and for achievement of US policy goals in this regard.

The Historical Background

Since 1797 the US has maintained consular relations with the Papal States, the central Italian region then ruled by the Pope. The US established formal diplomatic relations with the Papal Government in 1848. These diplomatic links were suspended in 1867, however, when Congress voted against funding the mission to the Holy See, largely because of prevailing anti-Catholic and anti-Papal sentiment in the US, and the consequences of Italian unification.

In 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt transformed the US-Vatican relationship by naming business executive Myron C. Taylor (a non-Catholic, by the way) as his Personal Representative to Pope Pius XII, in the hope, as Roosevelt said, of forwarding their “parallel endeavors for peace and the alleviation of suffering.” From 1939–1950, the US was a privileged interlocutor of the Vatican on international political issues, especially regarding peace attempts, refugee assistance, and efforts to influence political developments within the belligerent states. When Taylor resigned in 1950, President Truman nominated retired US Army General Mark Clark to replace him, but with the rank of Ambassador. Congress rejected the bid, however: Truman withdrew the nomination, and again, official relations were suspended. Despite the lack of formal ties, Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson all met reigning Popes in Rome, and Johnson welcomed Paul VI to New York in 1965, the first papal visit to the US.

President Nixon resumed appointment of personal representatives, naming former US Senator Henry Cabot Lodge in 1969. President Carter named two—business executive David Walters in 1977, and former New York City mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr. in 1978. In 1981, President Reagan appointed business executive William...