Pope addresses Vatican’s future diplomats

(June 14, 2010) The role and function of the representative of the Holy See is often misunderstood as being merely exterior, formal and very impersonal. On the contrary, it is eminently personal and calls for full dedication and generous availability on the part of a papal representative. The remark was made by Pope Benedict XVI on Monday when he addressed the staff and students of the Vatican’s Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy that trains priests to serve in the Holy See’s diplomatic missions such as embassies, known as Apostolic Nunciatures, Apostolic Delegations and Permanent Observer missions. He told the Vatican’s future diplomats that a papal representative’s service is something very profound because it means participating in the care of all the Churches, a characteristic of the ministry of the Roman Pontiff. He therefore urged them to a full interior adherence to the person of the Pope, his teaching and his universal ministry. They also need to cultivate a true passion for ecclesial communion. Pope Benedict therefore invited the students to reflect on being a solid ‘bridge’, a sure channel of communication between the particular Churches and the Apostolic See. On the one hand, this calls for providing to the Pope and his collaborators an objective, correct and profound view of the ecclesial and social condition of a particular Church, and on the other, conveying the norms, guidelines and directions of the Holy See to the local Church, not in a bureaucratic manner but in a profound love of the Church. Thus the pontifical representative and his collaborators truly become the sign of the presence and love of the Pope. This is beneficial both for the life of all the particular churches, especially those is difficult and delicate situations, the Pope said