Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05VATICAN507
2005-08-09 16:21:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Vatican
Cable title:  

UK IRKS HOLY SEE WITH EMBASSY CHANGES

Tags:  PREL PGOV UK VT 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L VATICAN 000507 

SIPDIS


DEPT. FOR EUR/WE (TCUNNINGHAM)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 8/5/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV UK VT
SUBJECT: UK IRKS HOLY SEE WITH EMBASSY CHANGES


CLASSIFIED BY: Peter Martin, Political Officer, POL, STATE.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)

-------
Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L VATICAN 000507

SIPDIS


DEPT. FOR EUR/WE (TCUNNINGHAM)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 8/5/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV UK VT
SUBJECT: UK IRKS HOLY SEE WITH EMBASSY CHANGES


CLASSIFIED BY: Peter Martin, Political Officer, POL, STATE.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)

--------------
Summary
--------------


1. (C) The UK has rubbed the Holy See the wrong way with two
recent moves that many at the Vatican have taken as slights - or
worse. First the British irked the Vatican by moving its
embassy to the Holy See into the compound housing its mission to
Italy - a diplomatic faux pas at the Vatican. Britain will
maintain a separate mission to the Holy See with its own
ambassador, but some see the co-location as a threat to the
Vatican's policy of not accepting dual accreditation to both
Italy and the Holy See of a single ambassador and embassy. On
the heels of the embassy co-location, Britain raised more
eyebrows by placing advertisements in the media for a new
ambassador to the Holy See. Holy See officials privately
described the act of placing a public advertisement for a
sensitive diplomatic position as "bizarre," and betraying a lack
of understanding of the "special nature" of diplomacy at the
Vatican. The next UK ambassador will have significant damage to
repair in Holy See - UK relations after this "brutta figura."
End Summary.

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Co-location Irks Vatican
--------------


2. (SBU) The UK has rubbed the Holy See the wrong way with
two recent moves that many at the Vatican have taken as slights
- or worse. HMG has moved her Britannic Majesty's Embassy to
the Holy See into the compound housing its mission to Italy - a
diplomatic faux pas at the Vatican. Only Israel maintains
co-located embassies, and the Holy See has chosen not to make an
issue of the situation due to Israel's security concerns and the
delicate balance of Vatican - Israel relations. (Sweden moved
its Embassy to the Holy See to the same corner building as its
mission to Italy in 1994, but with the entrance at a different
address. The Swedish ambassador moved to Stockholm in 2001 and
now operates mainly from the Swedish FM.)


3. (C) Britain will maintain a separate mission to the Holy See
with its own ambassador, but some see the co-location as the
first step towards challenging the Vatican's policy of not
accepting dual accreditation to both Italy and the Holy See of a

single ambassador and embassy. This policy stems from the
Lateran Pacts between Italy and the Holy See that created
Vatican City State. Monsignor Gabriele Caccia, the Holy See's
third-ranking official in the Vatican's equivalent of the Prime
Minister's cabinet, told us that the British had cited the lack
of a security setback in their old embassy as a reason for the
move, and put the best face on things by telling us that there
was a separate sign for each mission on the doorway of the new
embassy. The signs "are the same size," Caccia added
optimistically.

--------------
"Embassy will be Less Effective"
--------------


4. (C) Holy See UK Country Director Monsignor Bernardito Auza
told us the Vatican had not formally protested the move, but had
made it clear to the British that they were not happy with the
situation. He said he was aware that the UK was cutting costs
around the world in the Foreign Office, but said he could not
see how moving this one-person operation (the current UK
ambassador is the only British diplomat accredited to the Holy
See) would save enough money to make up for the resulting strain
on Holy See - UK relations. Caccia went on to point out what
seems to be common sense: an embassy to the Holy See that
co-locates with its Italian sibling is bound to become a
subsidiary. "There are different issues, a different character
of diplomacy," Caccia said. "It will inevitably make the
Embassy to the Holy See less effective," he concluded.

--------------
Former Ambassadors Protest
--------------


5. (U) A letter from three former British ambassadors to the
Holy See published July 17 in The Times of London and publicized
in Vatican-based media was on the same page with the Vatican.
The ambassadors protested the "downgrading" of UK relations to
the Holy See and noted that the "Holy See's agenda...on global
issues of poverty, development, and debt relief" coincided with
that of the UK. The ambassadors went on to note that the
Vatican was "influential and well informed" and a "first class
listening post," in which all other G8 countries have resident
diplomats.


--------------
Help Wanted: Ambassador
--------------


6. (C) On the heels of the embassy co-location, Britain
raised more eyebrows at the Vatican by placing advertisements
for a new ambassador to the Holy See in the Times newspaper, the
Economist magazine, and online. The move became the talk of the
Vatican among members of the Curia (mostly either offended or
incredulous) as many first assumed the advertisement, originally
seen on the internet, was a hoax. Vatican-based media, as
others, were bewildered by the advertisement. One top Vatican
correspondent put it this way: "Times are a bit tough at the
English embassy to the Holy See... Normally the selection of an
ambassador is a highly discreet process, often involving
delicate questions of diplomacy, geopolitics, and both political
and personal interests. In this case, however, the British have
opted for a much more direct route: they took out a help wanted
ad in the newspaper." Media contacts and others tell us the
co-location and the advertisement are signs that the embassy is
"just not on the radar screen" in London.

--------------
Advertisement seen as "Bizarre"
--------------


7. (C) The highly unusual move of advertising for an
ambassador irked the Holy See to the extent that during courtesy
calls made by the Charge in late July, official after official
raised the issue out of the blue. One member of the Roman Curia
told us it looked as if after moving the embassy the British had
now hit rock bottom. Others described the advertisement as
"childish," "bizarre," or betraying a lack of understanding of
the "special nature" of diplomacy at the Vatican. All were
dumbfounded at the implication that there was no one qualified
for the post within the British diplomatic community.


8. (C) Country Director Auza (protect) said he was
"disappointed, surprised, and embarrassed" by the placement of
an advertisement and its implication that this was a job one
would fill in such a mundane way. "They've told us that this is
a normal procedure," he said, "but it's not true." Auza noted
that the Holy See could reject anyone that the UK proposed, but
said the Vatican would not want to add to the embarrassment of
the situation - on both sides. While acknowledging that a UK
ambassador would not have to be a Catholic, Auza told us that
the percentage of Catholics in the UK's foreign service is
higher than that in the general population. "It's really
strange they felt they had no one at their disposal would be
right for the job," he said.

--------------
Comment
--------------


9. (C) Britain's decision to move its embassy to the Italian
mission compound was sure to strain relations with the Vatican
and hinder its mission. The public advertisements for an
ambassadorial position dug the British an even deeper hole,
indicating a lack of sensitivity on the part of Foreign and
Commonwealth Office officials that the next UK ambassador will
have to go far to repair. The diplomatic corps here has had a
field day with the flap, snickering at the impression the UK has
made, and suggesting various ludicrous candidates for the
position.


10. (C) For her part, current Ambassador Kathryn Colvin must
feel as if someone is pulling the rug out from under her. Her
deputy was transferred from Rome at the beginning of her tenure,
leaving Colvin alone at the embassy. Now she has had to move
across town to find herself in the domain of the UK ambassador
to Italy. It's no wonder she told a diplomatic colleague here
recently she knows what it must have felt like to be the last
British Governor in Hong Kong.


HARDT


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