Michael KellyIf Ireland starts to take Vatican relationship seriously it will bear fruit
When Emma Madigan, Ireland’s newly-appointed ambassador to the Vatican, arrives in Rome it will almost be like she is starting from scratch. There has not been a resident Irish Ambassador to the Holy See since Noel Fahey retired in mid-2011. Months later Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore announced his decision to downgrade relations with the Vatican and close the Embassy to the Holy See.
Ever since, Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs David Cooney has served as part-time ambassador to the Vatican trying to repair the damage done by Mr Gilmore’s decision. While Mr Cooney is acknowledged to have done a sterling job in the post and led to the reopening of the embassy, there is much work to be done in building a mature relationship with the Vatican.
The role of Archbishop Charles Brown as Papal Nuncio has been crucial in the Government’s u-turn in reopening the embassy. Since his appointment in 2011, the personable Irish-American, in addition to his role within the Church, has worked quietly in the background with politicians of all hues and officials in Government departments to emphasise the importance of upgrading ties.
Willing partner
In this endeavour he has found a willing partner in David Cooney. Both men are firm in their resolve that it will not be a return to the suffocatingly cosy relationship of the past, but a relationship build on common aims.
The appointment of Emma Madigan – a woman in her 30s – indicates that the Government may be starting to take the appointment to the Vatican seriously.
Almost without exception, Ireland has viewed the job of Ambassador to the Holy See as a pre-retirement posting. Diplomats who had served the country well could spend their last few years in the diplomatic service steeped in the dolce vita that the Eternal City is famed for. For all intents and purposes, the relationship between Ireland and the Vatican has largely been a social one and based on religious rather than diplomatic considerations. In this context, where the embassy was largely looked at with sentimental eyes, it was easy for Mr Gilmore to justify closing the mission. If Ireland is to move to a more mature relationship with the Holy See – and by extension religion in general – matters of mutual interest and concern will have to take centre stage.
Ireland has rarely got the relationship with the Vatican right. The country has veered from sycophantic to sneering in its relationship with Rome, either overly-deferential or – in the case of Enda Kenny’s now infamous speech – appallingly confrontational and ill-informed.
When Eamon de Valera sent birthday greetings to Pope Pius XII he signed off with “filial loyalty and devotion”. In 1976, Taoiseach Liam Consgrave wrote to Pope Paul VI offering “profound homage” and fervent prayer. By the 1980s, Taoiseach Charles Haughey was signing off a birthday greeting to St John Paul II “sincere felicitations and best wishes”.
Between now and when Ms Madigan presents her credentials to Pope Francis, the Government will have to think seriously about what it wants from diplomatic relations with the Vatican is the relationship is to be fruitful.
Almost 180 countries have full diplomatic relations with the Holy See. This is not a diplomatic relationship with the Catholic Church, as critics of the Vatican frequently characterise the relations, but with a sovereign entity with a base in every corner of the globe.
The danger is that the reopened Embassy to the Holy See is seen merely as an extension of Church-State relations. The Holy See is an influential global centre of what is known diplomatically as ‘soft power’. The Holy See doesn’t have an army nor does it have selfish strategic interests in issues like trade. When it comes to issues like overseas development, human rights and interreligious/cultural dialogue the Irish Government shares many values in common with the Holy See. The reopened embassy can help give focus to this cooperation.
The Holy See increasingly emerges as a global voice for peace and dialogue in the midst of war in Syria and other troubled parts of the world and rising tensions in Eastern Europe. Also, on the need to build a fairer world and create a more equal distribution of resources, the Holy See stands as a voice for some of the most vulnerable people in the world.
Britain’s Ambassador to the Holy See Nigel Baker recently observed that the Vatican’s “global impact is extensive, its voice respected, and its influence real”.
Focus
This should be the focus for Ms Madigan. The relationship between Ireland and the Holy See is doomed to failure if it becomes an extension of Church-State relations at home, nor should it fluctuate based on tensions or disputes at home on controversial issues like abortion and gay marriage.
A Vatican ambassador has to manage a complex web of relations which span his or her own Government, the Holy See and the Church in his or her home country. Ultimately, however, he or she must keep to the fore the fact that it is a relationship between two states that he is engaged in and avoid the temptation to see his or her role as negotiating a complex Church-State dialogue.
If Ms Madigan is looking for a model on how an Ambassador to the Holy See can play a fruitful role representing their government at the Vatican she should look no further than the aforementioned Nigel Baker. Like Francis Campbell, his predecessor as Britain’s man in the Vatican, Mr Baker skilfully and energetically engages with the Holy See on issues of mutual interest and concern. He has an extremely active social media presence and has worked hard to build understanding of his role among the wider public. Mr Baker ensures that the Holy See is now one of Britain’s most important diplomatic relationships, a relationship built on mutual respect and mature dialogue.
Ireland now has an opportunity to do the same.