Pope welcomes new US ambassador, Ken Hackett

October 21, 2013 - Pope Francis on Monday received the United States’ new ambassador to the Holy See, Kenneth F. Hackett, or Ken Hackett, the former head of Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the international humanitarian agency of American Catholics active in many developing countries. At a formal ceremony in the Vatican Hackett presented his credentials to the Pope, at the start of his diplomatic mission in the Vatican. President Obama had nominated Hackett as the 10th US ambassador to the Holy See on June 14 and the Senate approved him unanimously on Aug. 1. He has taken over from Miguel H. Diaz, who left the post in Nov. 2012. The 66-year old father of two children brings a lifetime of relief work to his new post, starting with a 1968-1971 stint with the Peace Corps in Ghana, which was followed by 40 years of service with Catholic Relief Services, serving as its Executive Director from 1993 to 2011. Among his other responsibilities, he served as vice president of Caritas Internationalis from 1996 to 2004 and was member of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council ‘Cor Unum’ from 1994 to 2012. (Source: Vatican)