Diaz: “Now Mahony should pull out of the Conclave”

02/23/2013




MIGUEL DIAZ

“Vatican Insider” interviews the former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, Miguel Diaz

PAOLO MASTROLILLI
NEW YORK

“Just like everyone else, Cardinal Mahony should reflect on the example set by the Pope.” Miguel Diaz, who up until two months ago was the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, is using all his diplomatic skill to persuade the Archbishop Emeritus of Los Angeles, who was involved in the Church sex-abuse scandal, not to take part in the Conclave. Regarding the election of the Pope’s successor, he added: “There are obvious divisions. What the Church needs now is a leader that is able to say “that is enough”.” Diaz returned to his post as theologian at the University of Dayton, in Ohio, but the post of U.S. ambassador to the Holy See remains vacant: “I am waiting for President Obama and Secretary of State, Kerry, decide though of course I would be glad to participate in the election of the new Pope.”


What were your thoughts when you heard about the Pope’s resignation?

“I wasn’t particularly surprised because Benedict XVI had spoken about it previously. He gave a human dimension to the papacy and acted as an example to all leaders, religious and non: when one is no longer in a condition - not only physical - to do their job, one has the right and the duty to resign.”


Mahony’s case is the most disputed one in the United States.

“The decision lies with him and he certainly has the legal right to vote in the Conclave, but the Pope also had the right to continue as Pope but instead chose to step down, accepting his human limits. A Pope’s physical conditions are not the only thing that can prevent him from serving to the best of his ability. We should all learn from Benedict’s example and ask ourselves whether there are obstacles and act responsibly, to ensure the common good of the institution, of the people of God and of all human beings.”


President Obama was also often criticised by the American hierarchy: how did he react?

“It is impossible for two institutions to be perfectly in line with each other. We knew there were differences but we made sure these did not paralyse us: the first conference I attended in Rome was on AIDS prevention.”


Why has Hilary Clinton never visited the Vatican?

“Organisational problems, that’s all. She told all ambassadors to do three things: listen to others, learn and lead based on what we have heard. I have done just this.”


What was your experience of the scandals during your time in the Vatican?

“Divisions do exist and all Catholics can see them. We are too divided politically, ideologically, theologically and on a regional level. What we need now is a leader who is able to say “that is enough”: this Church is Catholic, differences should not create division but opportunities.”


What do you expect from the next Conclave, an American Pope perhaps?

“It has nothing to do with nationality but quality of leadership. We need a bridge builder who can take on the world’s challenges. A manager who is able to manage God’s plan for mankind.”

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Can Truth and Diplomacy Be Reconciled?

July 13, 2012

The latest Courtyard of the Gentiles gathering sought a balance between the two concepts in an increasingly relativistic culture.

Alberto Carosa

Rome—The “Courtyard of the Gentiles” is an initiative of the Pontifical Council for Culture to promote dialogue between believers and non-believers, the result of a suggestion that Benedict XVI offered to the Roman Curia on the occasion of his Christmas greetings in 2009.

The most recent of these gatherings was held on June 26, at the Italian Embassy to the Holy See, housed at Palazzo Borromeo, a stately and historic mansion originally owned by the noble household of the Borromeos, among whose members there is a famous saint, San Carlo Borromeo (1538-1584). He was a leading figure during the Counter-Reformation and was responsible for significant reforms in the Catholic Church, following the Council of Trent and the implementation of its decrees.

As one can already and easily guess from the meeting’s title, “Diplomacy and Truth,” the event saw not only the participation of several cardinals and churchmen, but also, for the first time at a Courtyard of the Gentiles gathering, senior representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See and the Italian Republic. The possibility of reconciling diplomacy and truth, which are generally thought to be poles apart, was under the spotlight.

Among the keynote speakers were Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue; the US ambassador to the Holy See, Miguel Humberto Diaz; the ambassador of Morocco to Italy, Hassan Abouyoub; Stefano Folli, editorialist for the Italian business daily Il Sole 24 Ore; and Hon. Gianni De Michelis, president of Ipalmo, an institute dedicated to improving Italy’s relations with Africa, Latin America, and the Middle and Far East.

“I believe that the Courtyard of the Gentiles is the most appropriate forum to discuss truth and diplomacy, precisely because it is a natural environment for dialogue,” said the Italian Ambassador to the Holy See, Francesco Maria Greco, introducing the proceedings over which he presided with the president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi. “And because diplomacy is no longer the art of reporting, but much more directly the art of tackling cultural, ideological, geopolitical, and geoeconomic diversity, I believe that in a forum such as the Courtyard of the Gentiles, we can address this dialogue, in the literal sense of a word that breaks through the moat of the lack of communication.”

Then the floor was taken by Cardinal Ravasi. “We have to say that truth is one of the major categories of human communication at all levels,” said the cardinal. “It’s true that diplomacy, many times, resorts to alternative routes, but we must also recognize [that diplomacy needs] a virtue that is essential also in communication: prudence, discretion, undertone. Here, in light of this we can also recognize that those two words, diplomacy and truth, are not so antithetical to each other after all.”

This, then, is the central question of the Courtyard of the Gentiles gathering: is it possible to reconcile truth and diplomacy? The answer is yes, if diplomats identify human nature and natural law as the foundation of a common truth, recovering a classical conception of truth that opposes the current subjectivism.

And, according to Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the Vatican’s former secretary for Relations with States, it is precisely because of this objective, not subjective, conception that “an ambassador who tells lies, rarely does he reach his/her goal.” Much less so today, since in an increasingly globalized world information is by now relayed in real time, with diplomacy and transparency increasingly forced to go hand-in-hand.

This phenomenon has accelerated with the end of World War II, when “the leaders of nations got convinced of the need for diplomacy to be put at the service of a truth that would become the yardstick of the particular national truths.” On the other hand, Cardinal Tauran noted, for a diplomat to best fulfill his mandate, won’t he have to win the confidence of his counterparts? “And it’s right here that truth comes into the picture,” the cardinal said. Ultimately “who is the good diplomat? It’s the one who can remain silent in several languages.” Unsurprisingly, he then wound up his speech by quoting the diplomat par excellence, the Prince de Talleyrand, who used to say: “There is something more terrible than slander—truth.”

US Ambassador Diaz, almost as an unwitting representative of the “secular” front at the debate, took up the argument of natural law as the common ground between diplomacy and truth.

When, “for example, Secretary of State Clinton says that we Americans strongly support democracy,” it is not because “we want the other countries to be like us, but because we want all peoples to enjoy the constant protection of their natural rights, to which they are entitled regardless of whether they were born in Tallahassee or Tehran,” Diaz said. What is needed, he went on, is the building of bridges between truth and diplomacy, in order to deepen the bond of interdependence and friendship among peoples and nations of the world.

“What Pope Benedict XVI proclaims in his encyclical Caritas in Veritate about the light of reason and the role of reason in the proper exercise of love can be applied mutatis mutandis to the relationship between truth and diplomacy,” he said. “Diplomacy needs truth and the hand of reason not to lapse into mere self-centered human instrumentality. Diplomacy needs truth to foster transparent debates and authentic processes of community building.”

Ambassador Diaz again quoted the Holy Father’s encyclical, “Truth, in fact, is logos which creates dia-logos and hence communication and communion.” For without truth, the Pope contends, “charity degenerates into sentimentality. Love becomes an empty shell, to be filled in an arbitrary way. In a culture without truth, this is the fatal risk facing love.”

As the meeting concluded, Cardinal Ravasi extended an invitation to the next session of the Courtyard of the Gentiles, to be held in Stockholm September 13-14 in conjunction with the Swedish Embassy to the Holy See and focusing on the topic of faith-science interaction.

Source

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"Liberal family values ... threatening the future of humanity"

US ambassador to The Holy See Miguel H. Diaz (L) walks past two Swiss Guards as he arrives to the Vatican for the audience to the diplomatic corps on January 9, 2012. Pope Benedict XVI the same day warned that liberal family values were threatening the future of humanity, in a veiled reference to homosexual marriage and adoptions by gay couples.

View Photo »

http://www.daylife.com/photo/0fqJ3TudCjdbW?__site=daylife&q=Same-sex+Marriage

Miguel Díaz and the Rev. Gary Riebe-Estrella, SVD, featured presenters for Changing Faces Series

March 16, 2009

Miguel H. Díaz and the Rev. Gary Riebe-Estrella, SVD, will be the featured presenters for the 2009 Changing Faces Series April 2-3 at Saint John’s University, Collegeville. The April 2 lecture is free and open to the public, but registration is requested for the April 3 workshop.

Díaz will deliver the main address, “Jesus on the Border,” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 2 in the Stephen B. Humphrey Theater, SJU. In his address, Díaz will highlight the identity of Jesus, the Galilean, as someone who engages in border-crossings for the sake of transforming and creating inclusive communities within the Catholic Church and society.

Riebe-Estrella leads a workshop, “Crossing Borders: Cultural Diversity in Ministry,” from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. Friday, April 3. Check-in begins at 8:30 a.m. This workshop will examine some of the pastoral challenges of cross-cultural communications and will include discussions with local pastoral ministers.

Díaz is an associate professor of systematic theology at Saint John’s School of Theology•Seminary and Saint John’s University and at the College of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph, Minn. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, he is past president of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (ACHTUS). He recently served as a member of Barack Obama's Catholic advisory group during the 2008 presidential campaign.

Riebe-Estrella, a native of Los Angeles, has spent the majority of his ministry dealing with the challenges of cultural diversity in formation for religious life and in theological education and ministerial preparation. He is president-elect of ACHTUS, and holds a doctorate in practical theology from the Pontifical University of Salamanca in Spain. He currently serves as vice president and academic dean of Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

The Changing Faces Series is sponsored by Saint John’s School of Theology∙Seminary and Companions on a Journey at CSB, which is funded by a grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc. The Changing Faces Series seeks to engage more people in transformative approaches to intercultural ministry. The series invites members of local and regional communities, including students, faculty and staff at CSB and SJU, to experience all ministry and service as intercultural.

For more information, contact Bernadette Dunn at bdunn@csbsju.edu or 320-363-2839 or visit www.csbsju.edu/sot.

Source

U.S. Ambassador pledges continued cooperation between USA and Vatican in global AIDS battle

Vatican City, Dec 1, 2009 / 09:14 pm (CNA).- Dr. Miguel H. Diaz, U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican, calls the cooperation of the United States and the Church in the fight against AIDS "one of the most relevant in the global fight against the virus." This collaboration is credited with being able "to reach even poorest and most isolated areas of the planet."

In a letter published on the Italian Episcopal Conference's Avvenire news agency website, Diaz recognized the "great steps" that have been made in the world's struggle against the HIV epidemic in the last 25 years. He cited World Health Organization estimates that put the figure at 4 million people, the number of individuals in developing countries currently with access to anti-retroviral drug treatments.

Cooperation with the Catholic Church and its extensive network of sanitary assistance has been instrumental in reaching these people, he wrote.

Collaboration between the Holy See and the U.S. government extends beyond “fieldwork.” In November of this year, the Church and the American Consulate teamed up to educate other “partners” on the issue of pediatric AIDS in an international conference designed to "encourage greater collaboration between governments, NGOs, and religious organizations to prevent mother-child HIV transmission."

"We've already begun to see positive outcomes of the conference and we're expecting more concrete results shortly," said Diaz, who was appointed to his position in May by President Obama.

The ambassador added that the United States pledges "to continue working together with its world partners, among them the Holy See and the many organizations tied to it, to break through the many barriers that are still in our path."

"On this World AIDS Day, the United States is glad to recognize its collaboration with the catholic organizations in the global effort to combat AIDS."

Under the Obama administration, the Vatican and the U.S. have found themselves at odds over AIDS prevention.

Related articles:
Actions taken by the Bishops of the United States

College of Cardinals - Members from the United States

Legislative efforts in the United States to prohibit 'partial-birth abortion'

ObandoBravo,Miguel,S.D.B. //www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/u.s._ambassador_pledges_continued_cooperation_between_usa_and_vatican_in_global_aids_battle/

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Source: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/u.s._ambassador_pledges_continued_cooperation_between_usa_and_vatican_in_global_aids_battle/

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Miguel H. Díaz is first Hispanic to represent U.S. at Vatican

Posted on Friday, 11.20.09

Miguel H. Díaz
GREGORIO BORGIA / AP

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
jcharles@MiamiHerald.com

ROME -- Deep in the heart of Vatican City, Cuban-born Roman Catholic theologian Miguel H. Díaz has managed to find an Italian version of a sandwich that reminds him of home: pan con lechón.

``They're Italian pork sandwiches but very, very close to pan con lechón,'' said the Miami-raised university professor who was plucked out of academia by President Barack Obama for one of the most sought-after jobs in the U.S. diplomatic corps: U.S. ambassador to the Holy See.

``The woman has just adopted the family,'' he chuckled. ``We've gone in there several times, and she's like `L'ambasciatore Americano.' She knows exactly what I like.''

Since his official arrival in this historic city last month, Díaz, 46, has been seeking out the familiar while soaking in his new surroundings, from patronizing the shop that makes his favorite sandwich to hobnobbing with Catholic bishops and cardinals to sifting through endless invitations from curious Italians wanting to meet the man chosen to carry out U.S. foreign policy at the Vatican.

``There is so much hospitality accompanied by wonderful friendship and food that it's a wonderful challenge to have,'' Díaz told The Miami Herald in his first interview with a U.S. publication since arriving in the Italian capital.

But it's not all cocktail parties. Díaz will be working to shape policy on issues where the church and Obama administration share common goals: poverty, world hunger, human trafficking, the Middle East, HIV/AIDS, terrorism and the environment.

What he won't be doing: focusing on abortion or domestic problems confronting the Catholic Church, such as gay rights and the ordination of women priests.

``I am not here as a representative of the U.S. church nor a particular group, however noble that cause may be,'' he said. ``I am here as a diplomat, as a representative of the U.S. government.''

An alumnus of Miami Coral Park High and St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens, Díaz is an academic religious thinker who has made history as the first Hispanic appointed to this ambassadorship. The United States and the Holy See -- the ancient central government of the Roman Catholic Church -- established full diplomatic relations in 1984.

One of three top U.S. diplomatic posts in Italy -- there is an ambassador to Italy and another assigned to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations -- this is considered a prized appointment that often goes to someone close to the president. Díaz was among several Catholic religious advisors to Obama during his presidential campaign.

``Once an opportunity like this comes around, you can't really say `No' to something like this,'' he said.

Those who know Díaz said he's more than capable of fulfilling his new role.

``He's very gifted in many ways,'' said the Rev. Steven O'Hala, academic dean at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, where Díaz worked from 1998 to 2003. He was academic dean for two years before leaving for an associate professorship at Barry University in Miami Shores.

``He's able to relate to many different kinds of people even though he's a theologian by trade,'' O'Hala said. ``He's the kind of person who can easily relate to just about anybody.''
Díaz attributes the talent to his Miami experiences and humble roots as the child of Cuban immigrants.

``Since the beginning of my nomination, I have underscored that I want to be a bridge-builder,'' said Díaz, whose parents left Cuba for Spain when he was 9 before settling in Miami, where his father worked as a waiter. ``As a Cuban-American I have lived `life on the hyphen,' bridging cultural, language and various other social experiences.''

MORE THAN HERITAGE

Still, Díaz doesn't want to be defined solely by his heritage.

``When people say I am the new face of Catholicism, I like to say in some ways I am the face that characterizes Catholicism. I'm not sure if it's new. It's the face that is part of our culture, our diversity,'' he said.

``I am the U.S. ambassador who is Cuban-American and is proud of that tradition,'' he said, ``but who is able to precisely build bridges because of the way I was raised, and the experiences I have had in a city where most of my friends came from very different backgrounds and traditions.''

That experience, coupled with his professional background and love of languages -- he speaks fluent Italian and French as well and English and Spanish and reads German and Latin -- could be useful in key areas that may shape the Obama administration's foreign policy agenda with the Vatican, including the Middle East.

``I am hoping to build a lot on President Obama's Cairo speech,'' said Díaz, referring to Obama's June speech in Egypt in which he touched on inter-faith dialogue.

Still, Díaz's appointment wasn't without controversy. While some Catholics lauded it, others questioned where he stood on abortion given the Vatican's pro-life stance and Obama's pro-choice position.

``I've always stood for a consistent ethics of life from the beginning,'' he said.
As the U.S. representative, Díaz said he plans to be a set of eyes and ears on the litany of issues on which the church and the administration agree.

``The fact that we have the opportunity to engage the Holy See and the fact that the Holy See has such extensive relations worldwide gives us an opportunity to really serve as a listening post,'' he said, sitting in his spacious second-floor office overlooking the manicured grounds of the tiny embassy.

Meanwhile, he continues to adjust to life in Rome. He's prioritizing his agenda after co-hosting a conference with the Holy See on HIV/AIDS and getting to know his staff, which includes fellow Cuban American, Deputy Chief of Mission Julieta Valls Noyes.

His wife, Marian, who also has a doctorate in theology, and their four children, ages 5 to 15, are settling in, he said.

ON THE HOMERFRONT

In Miami-Dade's Westchester neighborhood, his parents, Félix and Silvia Díaz, laud their son's accomplishment. The family, including brother Jorge, traveled to Washington for the swearing-in ceremony, and his dad went to Rome to see him present his credentials to the Pope.

``It is a great honor for us,'' said Silvia, 73.

When she and her husband left Cuba, she said, they had just one goal: to work hard to give their children an education. Her baby Miguel, she said, has more than fulfilled their expectations.

``He was always an excellent student,'' she said. ``He has a good heart. He's noble.''

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Source:http://www.miamiherald.com/living/religion-values/v-fullstory/story/1343337.html

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New US ambassador to Vatican sworn in at State Department ceremony

Monday, August 24, 2009
By Megan Sweas
By Patricia Zapor Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- With a roomful of theologians, college professors and presidents, political activists, leaders of various church organizations, and family and longtime friends looking on, Catholic theologian Miguel Diaz was sworn in as ambassador to the Vatican Aug. 21.

In a brief, invitation-only ceremony in the ornate Benjamin Franklin room at the State Department, Assistant Secretary of State Phil Gordon administered the standard governmental oath of office and supervised as Diaz signed an assortment of official papers.

The process of stepping into the job as ambassador concludes with Diaz's formal presentation of his diplomatic credentials to the Vatican.

Diaz, a professor at St. John's University and the College of St. Benedict, both in Minnesota, is the first Hispanic and the first theologian to represent the U.S. at the Vatican. His predecessors have all come to the job with more extensive backgrounds in political activism or diplomacy.

Diaz was active in President Barack Obama's campaign, serving on his board of Catholic advisers and as a campaign representative at times, particularly with Spanish-language news media.

In brief comments after the ceremonial part of the event, Diaz said he would bring to the position at the Vatican a strong belief in Obama's commitment to the idea that "it's possible to disagree without being disagreeable."

Diaz said he believes Obama's presidency and approach to his office have "revived the American tradition that unity comes through diversity," which he intends to apply to his diplomatic position.

A native of Cuba who came to the United States as a child with his parents, Felix and Silvia Diaz, he was the first of his family to attend college. He is a former president of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians and a board member of the Catholic Theological Society of America. He is fluent in Italian, Spanish and French.

Diaz, 45, has been at St. John's and St. Benedict since 2004. Prior to that he taught at Barry University in Miami Shores, Fla.; St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Fla.; the University of Dayton in Ohio; and the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

Colleagues from those schools and friends from around the country joined Diaz and his family and various political activists at the ceremony, which was not open to the general press.

As Diaz thanked people who have helped him prepare for the ambassadorship -- State Department personnel, White House representatives, Vatican nuncio Archbishop Pietro Sambi, colleagues and family members -- his father, who worked as a waiter to support his family in Miami, was among those in the room who became choked up with emotion.

"Thank you for all your sacrifices," Diaz told his parents.

He also echoed comments Gordon made about the entire Diaz family becoming ambassadors for the United States. Diaz and his wife, Marian, who has been director of a program for the theological exploration of vocations at St. John's and St. Benedict, have four children.

"The whole family will be ambassadors of the United States," Gordon said.

Diaz made a point of thanking the U.S. Senate for completing his confirmation process in time for his young children to be enrolled in school in Rome by the start of the school year.

Among those attending the ceremony were Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington; Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl, current head of the Washington Archdiocese; Archbishop Sambi; former U.S. ambassadors to the Vatican Lindy Boggs and Thomas Melady; the directors of Catholic Relief Services and Catholic Charities USA, Ken Hackett and Father Larry Snyder, respectively; Msgr. David Malloy, general secretary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; the presidents of The Catholic University of America and Georgetown University, Vincentian Father David O'Connell and John DiGioia, respectively; and Arturo Chavez, president of the Mexican American Catholic College in San Antonio.

Source: http://www.uscatholic.org/news/2009/08/new-us-ambassador-vatican-sworn-state-department-ceremony

P.S. Bolds and Highlights added.

If you ask me this (invitation-only ceremony) was nothing more than a government sanctioned Catholic ritual; An anointing of a catholic (emisary) envoy from the USA to the Vatican. Also, a violation of the Separation of Church and State.

What other religion receives so much pagentry and protocol?

Why is there a preference for the church of Rome? Why?

It's like the good-olde days, no? Capite, fratelli?

A Catholic theologian assigned as an Ambassador? How does his religious preparation qualify him to be an ambassador? Perhaps, a religious (separation of church and state) liason to the Vatican? Possibly an emissary; But, ambassador?

Arsenio.

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New ambassador from Minnesota confronts the world of Vatican politics

By Albert Eisele Monday, Aug. 31, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Miguel Diaz arrived in Rome with his wife and four children Thursday, ready to embark upon "the greatest adventure" of his life as the new U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, and certain to make history while doing it.

As the first Hispanic to represent the United States at the Vatican since the post was established 25 years ago under President Ronald Reagan, the 46-year-old Cuban-American professor of theology at St. John's University and the College of St. Benedict in Collegeville, Minn., has been hailed as a symbol of the changing face of American Catholicism, with Hispanics on their way to becoming a plurality among America's 65 million Catholics.

Diaz, who was unanimously confirmed by the Senate and sworn in at the State Department on Aug. 21, was feted at a round of receptions and luncheons over the weekend, and at a Mass at Catholic University on Sunday. His appointment comes on the heels of President Obama's historic choice of Sonia Sotomayor as the first Hispanic justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. In fact, Sotomayer was supposed to administer the oath of office to Diaz, but was unable to because of a scheduling conflict.

Diaz, who was born in Havana but moved to Miami with his family as a boy, is getting plenty of free advice about how to avoid any diplomatic missteps in his sensitive new post.

"He doesn't need my advice because he's a qualified theologian, speaks fluent Italian and has a good understanding of the Holy See and its history," said Jim Nicholson, who served in the post from 2001-2005. "But he should remember who he represents — the people of the United States and the interests of the United States — and avoid getting involved in the business of the Catholic Church, including the affairs of the Church here at home."

When I pointed out that the New York Times reported Thursday that some American bishops in recent weeks have opposed Obama's proposed healthcare overhaul, mostly because they're concerned that it won't exclude abortion coverage, Nicholson said that should not create a problem for Diaz, who was one of Obama's earliest supporters.



csbsju.edu
Miguel Diaz











Diaz should "would be well-advised to concentrate" on other issues like human trafficking, starving people, HIV/Aids prevention, religious freedom," Nicholson said. "So there's a great deal he can do towards enhancing human dignity."

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who headed the Washington, D.C., archdiocese before retiring three years ago, put it in more colorful terms while attending a reception for Diaz at the Institute of World Politics last week that was hosted by Thomas Melady, who was ambassador to the Vatican from 1989-93.

Getting to know the Vatican
When I asked McCarrick if he had any advice for Diaz, he said: "He has to learn the lay of the land [in Pope Benedict XIV's Vatican] because it's shifting. We don't know who's on first and he has to find that out for us."

In other words, Diaz has to find out who the key people are in the Vatican bureaucracy who oversee relations with the U.S. and the Obama administration, which clearly favors abortion rights.

That may be difficult, given the fact that Diaz, who reportedly was not Obama's first choice — Caroline Kennedy and Douglas Kmiec, a professor at Pepperdine University, were apparently rejected by the Vatican because of their pro-choice stance. In fact, Diaz is already being criticized by some American Catholics, including several members of the hierarchy, who feel he was chosen more for political reasons than theological or diplomatic ones.

"The suspicion is that Obama and his advisors hope to divide the [U.S.] church along ethnic, linguistic and ideological lines, thus making it less likely to offer compact opposition to the administration's abortion policies," John Allen Jr., who covers the Vatican for the National Catholic Reporter, wrote in June.

Allen, who is considered one of the best informed observers of the Vatican's byzantine bureaucracy that includes official representatives in 175 countries, wrote that Diaz "embodies two currents in American Catholicism heretofore not terribly visible in the Eternal City: its burgeoning Hispanic wing, and its center-left theological guild."

Noting that Diaz isn't well-known outside of theological circles and doesn't have a clear record on the "hot button issue of abortion" — he declined to discuss abortion or any other controversial issues during his Senate confirmation hearing — Allen predicted that Diaz's appointment ultimately will be viewed through one of two perspectives:

"Diaz could be seen as a deft nod to the diversity of the American church, as well as a potential bridge between Catholicism's traditional centers in Europe and North American and its emerging voices in the global South," Allen wrote. "Or Diaz could be seen as the product of 'divide and conquer' politics, meaning an attempt by Obama to mute Catholic criticism of his pro-choice stance by throwing a bone to Hispanic and peace-and-justice liberals."

Foreign-service officer model
And George Weigel, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, urged Diaz in July to remember the response of Benjamin Franklin, then ambassador to France, when asked by the Holy See about President George Washington's views on the appointment of the first Catholic bishop in the new United States. "Franklin replied that such an appointment was not the government's business," Weigel said.

Weigel went on to lecture Diaz: "As representatives of that same government, all your predecessors have rigorously avoided entanglement in the internal affairs of the Catholic Church in the United States during their years at Embassy-Vatican — including any involvement whatsoever in the delicate matter of the appointment of bishops."

Weigel advised Diaz to think of himself as a career foreign service officer rather than a political appointee, and avoid being "an advocate for the specific policies of the administration you represent… I hope the Obama administration understands that using you as a partisan surrogate with Catholic audiences in the U.S. would be poorly received by the Holy See, as it would under any American administration. If this is not understood by your superiors, please explain it to them."

Melady, a career diplomat who also served as ambassador to Burundi and Rwanda, served as Reagan's ambassador to the Vatican from 1989-93, said he gave Diaz three pieces of advice.

First, he urged him to establish good relations with the State Department officials back in Washington whom he'll be dealing with. Second, he told him to pay attention to his fellow ambassador s to the Vatican "who are very much in the know," and third, said, "Don't give any interviews" for three to six months, or "until you really know the lay of the land."

Melady told the National Catholic Reporter in June that one of the first questions he was asked as ambassador was, "How about the abortion issue? 'That's not my assignment,' I said. My assignment was to represent the government of the United States. [Abortion's] not a government issue. We don't get involved in church teachings."

Melady, like Nicholson and former Rep. Lindy Boggs, D-La., who was President Bill Clinton's ambassador to the Vatican from 1997 to 2001, said he's confident Diaz will be successful.

Noting that Diaz speaks fluent Italian — and Spanish and French as well — Melady said: "He understands the culture and the history of the Catholic world. …He is very knowledgeable and has deeply rooted [personal] skills. This will strike a very good note among people in the Vatican. The fact that he is an academic … is good," especially with Pope Benedict's academic background. "He will feel very much at home in that atmosphere; very comfortable with it."

One other factor is almost certain to help Diaz in his new job, according to John Carr, the Minnesota native who is a top official of the U.S. Catholic Conference. Referring to Diaz's wife, Marian, a clinical psychologist, and his four attractive children, he said Diaz and his family "will be a big hit with the Italian people. They will love them."

But whether the Vatican bureaucrats and American Catholics will love Diaz is another matter.

Last week, just before Diaz and his family departed for Rome, I asked Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the papal nuncio who is the Vatican's ambassador to the United States, if he had any advice for Diaz.

"Yes," he said, "I had breakfast with him this morning."

And what did you tell him?

"I can't tell you," he said, as he laughed and hurried away.

Albert Eisele is founding editor of The Hill, a newspaper that covers Congress.


Source: http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2009/08/31/11220/new_ambassador_from_minnesota_confronts_the_world_of_vatican_politics

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P.S. Bolds and Highlights added.

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