U.S. Ambassador to Holy See: post-election need to overcome polarization

(Vatican Radio) The United States Ambassador to the Holy See Miguel H. Díaz says the recent elections in the United States present both big challenges and big gifts for lawmakers and the people of his country. Ambassador Diaz said these “have to do with reconciling human differences…overcoming polarization.”
The Ambassador observed, “President Barak Obama in his first campaign had a strong message of the ‘yes we can,’ and now, in the second campaign, in his vision, he’s emphasizing the ‘moving forward’.
“So, we’ve gone from the ‘yes we can’ to the moving forward. And I think those two are interconnected…in this whole question of how do we come together as a nation and as a world that is increasingly diverse to affirm the goodness of the other and to affirm the gifts of the other and to yes, recognize that differences exist – but to turn the tensions into a creative moment of grace and opportunity to build bridges and to build authentic relationships for the sake of the common good.
“So, I have stated before,” the Ambassador continues, “I am convinced that one of the greatest challenges of our times is how to reconcile this notion or this reality of human differences and how to bring about concretely – not just theoretically – how to affirm a community that appreciates the differences but at the same time recognizes that tensions will exist and is able to deal with those tensions in ways that don’t create more problems but rather begin to tackle the issues that affect all of us.”
Ambassador Díaz leaves his post in Rome this week to return to academia in the U.S. Diaz, who presented his letters of credential to Pope Benedict in October 2009, says he is “proud to serve almost three and a half years in his position as the 9th U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See.” Listen to interview with Tracey McClure