Sir, – I was somewhat dismayed to learn that the Government, on the recommendation of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, had decided to abandon our Vatican Embassy.
In a democracy where government of the people, by the people is sacrosanct, Dáil Éireann, representing the people, had the right to be consulted by the Executive before reaching its decision.
It appears we are to have government by diktat, but this is hardly surprising where, in our coalition Government, the tail seems to be wagging the dog! I cherish my Roman affiliation and hence am deeply offended by the calculated insult offered His Holiness by our Minister for Foreign Affairs, whose action serves to demean him and the people of this country generally.
It is particularly inappropriate to vacate the Vatican Embassy on the eve of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress and especially when the faithful in Ireland had hoped that His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI would honour them with a visit at that time. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – The closing of the Irish Embassy to the Holy See should now raise a fundamental issue for Catholics, and that is whether the Catholic Church should be continually asserting itself as a sovereign state, very often at the expense of its Christ-given role as the bearer of good news to all nations.
The Vatican continues to monopolise the apostolic powers of bishops’ conferences throughout the world and has refused to relinquish its creeping and absolute centralised control over all aspects of Catholic life, a control which is reinforced with threats of excommunication against anyone who dares question even papal opinions. How many priests would be released from the Vatican diplomatic corps for pastoral care throughout the world if the Vatican abandoned its claim to statehood and all that entails.
I suspect most Catholics want a church of the people of God and not a political secular state into which the Vatican has evolved at the expense of its pastoral mission. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I am rather puzzled by those who are complaining about the closure of the Irish Embassy to the Holy See in Rome. The closure of the physical building does not of itself mean the closure of diplomatic relations, which can be perfectly performed from Dublin, or indeed from Rome. The Vatican state is so small that the embassies to it have to be based in another country and yet it insists on separate representation out of a separate building from the embassy to Italy. This is not 1929, 1940 or 1945: history has moved on.
Maintaining two separate buildings in the same city is not reasonable or economic, especially in these straightened times. In my view it reflects very badly on the Holy See that it should insist on imposing an extra financial burden on countries in a far worse economic state than Ireland.
Many small states agree to diplomatic relations through an embassy in a larger neighbouring country, so why the Holy See should consider itself exceptional I do not know. It would be exceptional, of course, if it actually did something at local level for the individuals it purports to represent.
Most of the one billion Catholics it represents do not live there; and as far as I know if ever in trouble they do not turn to the local Papal Nuncio for consular help. I rather suspect they’d get short shrift if they did.
The Vatican should remove its rather haughty demand for separate representation and agree to shared embassy premises. That way an ambassador could happily return to Rome – but to shared premises. If it takes the still staunchly Catholic Irish to drive that message home, then well done us and our Government for doing so!
I have been lucky enough to visit the Villa Spada, our current embassy to the Vatican, and it is a wonderful building in a wonderful setting. It is perfectly right for the Government to retain this building and to move our embassy to Italy there. If the Vatican and its supporters choose to throw a hissy fit and refuse to share the building then that is not our problem. I won’t lose sleep over the fact that the Pope might be fretting about representation from Dublin or that his assistants might vindictively treat us less well, as Paddy Agnew’s recent article from Rome suggests. Were that to happen, it would only reinforce the message that the Vatican is not as Christian as it should be. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I was saddened to learn of the Irish Government’s decision to close the Vatican Embassy. I hope that the reasons were truly economic rather than political. Ireland’s embassy at the Vatican is one of the country’s oldest diplomatic postings, symbolising strong historic ties to the Catholic Church.
The Holy See was the first state to recognise Ireland as an independent nation. This was a significant milestone in our history as a nation. One cannot deny the positive impact of Catholicism in our history with the vast network of schools, hospitals, and charitable services. While there have been tensions in recent years between the Irish Government and the Holy See, one would hope that this was not the underlying reason for the closure. The way ahead is dialogue, not retaliation. – Yours, etc,