Ambassador's Farewell Assessment of U.S.-Holy See

UNCLAS VATICAN 000307

SIPDIS


For the Secretary
Also for D and P
Also for EUR-BJones and GDavies, and EUR/WE
From Ambassador Nicholson

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PHUM KIRF VT
SUBJECT: Ambassador's Farewell Assessment of U.S.-Holy See
Ties: A Valuable Partnership for Promoting Human Dignity

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SUMMARY
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1. (U) Madam Secretary,

As I leave my [post today concluding nearly three and a
half years as Ambassador to the Holy See, I want to report
that I believe our relationship with the Vatican has
emerged as a very important bilateral partnership. It has
become increasingly valuable to our efforts to promote one
of the core elements of U.S. national security policy: the
advancement of human dignity worldwide. Because the Holy
See, like the U.S., thinks and acts globally and shares
many of our core goals including defending democracy, human
rights, religious freedom, promoting sustainable global
development, and providing essential humanitarian relief,
our relationship offers great potential for worldwide
cooperation.


2. (U) During my tenure, Embassy Vatican has expanded and
deepened the scope of our bilateral engagement by enlisting
the Holy See's moral voice against terrorism, human
trafficking and restrictions on religious freedom, by
pressing upon them the vital connections between
biotechnology and combating hunger, and by linking Catholic
institutions to USG and private American initiatives to
combat HIV/AIDS. The Vatican has been responsive to our
concerns and increasingly open to exploring creative ways
to work with us on these priority U.S. concerns.


3. (U) Beyond our multifaceted diplomatic cooperation, I
believe Embassy Vatican offers a unique and powerful
platform for public diplomacy that until recently has been
almost completely neglected. When I arrived, we had no/no
FSO or local PD staff in our mission despite the fact that
the intensive international media focus on the Pope and the
large Vatican and Rome press corps offers limitless
potential to build understanding of American policies and
values. Radio Vatican alone broadcasts into 40 languages,
and many Catholic publications are published in many
languages reaching dozens of countries. Operating at first
without any Embassy PD staff, and subsequently with one
locally engaged staff member, we have been able to reach
audiences on every continent though the hundreds of
interviews and appearances I have made to convey U.S.
policy goals and values. In particular, I have sought to
emphasize the positive contributions the U.S. is making to
protect human rights, end hunger, and promote sustainable
development. I am pleased that we will be obtaining a new
PD FSO this year through the DRI initiative that will allow
us to expand on this foundation. It would be hard to think
of a post that allows us to tap into so many audiences
simultaneously to make our case to the world. End Summary.

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Making the Most of our Partnership
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4. (U) Twenty-one years after President Reagan decided to
establish formal diplomatic relations with the Holy See, I
believe our relationship today is strong and vital, but
still capable of contributing even more to the advancement
of our priority policy goals. Despite clear and public
differences over the Iraq war in 2002 and 2003, the Holy
See has looked forward on Iraq and is firmly in our corner
on many of the vital issues of our day, including:

-- Terrorism: Two days after September 11 when I presented
my credentials to the Pope, he told me that the attacks on
the U.S. were an attack on all of humanity. Since then,
the Holy See has been a consistent and outspoken voice
against terror. As the first Pope to visit a mosque and a
frequent visitor to predominantly Muslim countries, John
Paul II is widely respected in the Muslim world. When he
says that terror in the name of God can never be tolerated,
his voice carries weight even in Muslim countries. As the
full dimensions of the terrorist threat have emerged, the
Holy See has been developing a more sophisticated view of
what is needed to meet it. Last year, the Pope recognized
that current international legal instruments were
inadequate to threats posed by non-state actors, and called
for consideration of a new legal framework to allow states
to meet this threat within an agreed legal framework. I
encouraged such consideration with a conference on terror
and international law last year. We should continue to
regard the Vatican as an important ally against terror,
both for its strong moral voice of condemnation and its
willingness to explore new international means to respond

-- Defending Freedom and Human Rights: It would be hard to
think of a more effective defender of freedom and human
rights than John Paul II, who played such a critical role
in the dut against human rights abuses and restrictions on
freedom wherever they occur, from Cuba to Sudan. We have a
particularly active dialogue on religious freedom, and work
together to identify problems and to try to address them.
The U.S. has g a conference in
2002 with representatives from 35 countries to build
awareness of the problem, we set about to do something
about it by developing with PRM funding a training program
for religious workers to prevent and deal with the
consequences of human trafficking. This program, which has
trained nearly 100 people in Nigeria, Romania, Albania and
Italy, is now in a second phase in which it will be further
extended. We have also appreciated the Department's
support in encouraging U.S. Embassies to work more closely
with Vatican Nuncios and Catholic Bishops' Councils on
trafficking, and I have been pleased to see that such
cooperation is developing in many countries. Overall, I
believe we have significantly strengthened the commitment
and capacity of people who are both willing and able to
help combat this modern-day slavery.

-- Combating Hunger through Biotechnology: As one of the
major players in providing humanitarian relief in drought
and famine-stricken areas through its CARITAS relief
network, the Holy See is committed to preventing
starvation. Prior to my arrival, however, they had been
reluctant to embrace the potential of biotechnology to help
alleviate hunger in developing nations. Over the course of
my tenure, I have lobbied hard to overcome the Vatican's
hesitation -- a hesitation driven largely by the anti-GMO
environment in Europe -- and have made some strategic
allies within the Pontifical Science Academy and the
Council for Justice and Peace. Our Embassy has organized
four separate conferences that have expanded understanding
of biotech's potential within the Vatican, while reaching
public audiences in Italy and beyond. Today, the Vatican
is much more open to biotechnology, and has encouraged
further study of its potential, including by hosting its
own international conference aimed at preparing the ground
for a stronger Vatican endorsement in the future.

-- Confronting HIV/AIDS: The Holy See and affiliated
Catholic hospitals, clinics, and religious communities
provide over 27 percent of care worldwide for people
affected by HIV/AIDS and are active worldwide in prevention
efforts. The President's Global AIDS Coordinator has made
clear that faith-based groups are playing a critical role
in helping to meet the HIV/AIDS challenge, and we have been
working with the Vatican to maximize that cooperation. The
Vatican-linked St. Egidio Community is doing innovative
anti-retroviral work in six African countries, and my
Embassy has helped them coordinate their efforts with U.S.
Embassies in target countries to secure funding from the
President's Emergency Fund. Likewise, we have encouraged
the Vatican's health council to expand its direct
involvement, prompting them to develop a new "good
Samaritan" foundation to facilitate requests for assistance
from smaller Catholic institutions. We have also put U.S.
pharmaceutical companies in direct contact with the Vatican
to explore possibilities for the provision of low-cost
drugs and to overcome some negative Vatican preconceptions
about the role of American drug companies.

-- Advocate Against Cloning: Throughout my tenure, the
Holy See has been and will remain one of our strongest
allies in our effort to secure an international ban against
human cloning. This flows from our common focus on human
dignity and respect for the value of human life. The Holy
See has circulated a compelling document to all UN members
arguing for a ban, and has lobbied key countries as we have
worked to move this effort forward.


-- Promoting Global Development and Overcoming Corruption:
The Holy See has always been a strong voice for global
compassion and has been active in promoting strategies for
development. While still supporting "a more equitable
distribution" of the world's goods, the Holy See has become
much more sensitive in the past three years to the
importance of good governance among aid recipients and the
need for governments to take greater responsibility for
their own development. In this regard, they have been
supportive of U.S. Millennium Challenge goals, and can
become another influential voice for U.S. efforts to ensure
development assistance is well-used and targeted to
critical areas such as education and health care.


5. (U) Given our shared commitment to the promotion of
human dignity, the congruence of our policy goals, and the
capacity of the Holy See to act and speak out in almost
every corner of the globe, I believe the Department should
continue to expand support for Embassy Vatican's diplomatic
engagement and public outreach. The Holy See is a unique
bilateral partner for the United States, which often does
not fit into the regular frameworks such as the EU or NATO
within which we conduct much of our policy outreach.
However, like many EU members, it is truly a global partner
that is engaged worldwide and has the capacity to act
worldwide whether providing needed assistance, mediating a
conflict, or building inter-religious understanding. I
hope the Department will continue to build on the
foundation we have developed at Embassy Vatican in actively
engaging the Holy See as a vital partner for our own
efforts to build a safer, more secure world.


6. (U) It has been an honor to serve my country and
President as the sixth U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, and
it has been a privilege to work with our many colleagues in
the Department of State over the past three and a half
years. My small staff at Embassy Vatican -- Foreign
Service and Local staff alike -- has accomplished much more
than many would have thought possible. Their
professionalism, commitment and hard work have demonstrated
the finest qualities of the Department of State and of
commitment to country.

NICHOLSON


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2005VATICA00307 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED