If you are following the daily work of the Pope you'll
notice that his schedule is often filled with meeting important people.
Ambassadors are but one such group of important people that build relationships between the Pope (and
the Holy See) with a respective nation. From my perspective I am interested in the workings of the US Ambassador to the Holy See,
Dr. Miguel Humberto Dias, but I have an interest in what others are doing, too, because of the universality of the Church and needs of humanity.
In recent days the Holy Father met with the various new ambassadors from several African and other nations to the Holy See. Part of the ceremony is for the new ambassadors to present formal credentials to the Pope in a reception that's properly diplomatic, cultural and a bit familiar in the sense that the ambassador brings an entourage, including his or her family. And there is important work done too with the Pope's carefully chosen but not rigid talk to the assembly because he draws out the good and the areas of concern in the respective countries based on past and current exchanges. Regardless of faith tradition, the meeting of new ambassadors is respectfully done in the context of faith and reason. I typically find the addresses to be OK. Yet, the recent addresses of the Pope to these new ambassadors were interesting to me partly because the other day a friend and I were talking about the Pope's comments on the African situation of AIDS and condoms. She said something true but sad: "North Americans generally don't care about Africa unless they're getting something from there: commodities." Whether you agree with the assessment or not, you can't deny the fact that North Americans are generally blind to African life. Think of the problems in recent years in the Sudan and the genocide in Rwanda. Africa is not in the American consciousness and yet from all indications, Africa is exploding on several fronts: economics, leadership, culture, and faith. As Catholics we are to be interested in who our African brothers and sisters are as people and what they are doing because Christ is interested in them. It is the Incarnation that makes me wonder who others are and what they are doing.
Here are the Pope's addresses for consideration:
Pope to new ambassador to Nepal.pdf
Pope to new ambassador to Zambia.pdf
Pope to new ambassadors of Nepal, Zambia, Andorra, the Seychelles & Mali.pdf
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