Cardinal Bertone tells papal diplomats they are primarily priests

January 18, 2013 - For a Vatican diplomat, what counts more is a life faith, rather than a whole lot of expertise, knowledge and skills, which, no doubt, are important for the job. In fact, a papal representative is primarily a priest, Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone told priests at Rome’s Pontifical Ecclesiatical Academy that trains personnel for the Holy See’s diplomatic missions. The prelate made the comment during a vespers service at the Vatican institute on Thursday, to mark the feast of St. Anthony the Abbot, the patron of the academy. “Like any other form of priestly ministry,” Cardinal Bertone warned, “the service of the Holy See diplomats can also run the risk of a form of addiction, or falling into the superficiality of routine work or empty formality, which over time can end up being less attentive to the supernatural dimension of daily work.