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BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

Ultimo Aggiornamento: 23/08/2021 11:16
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02/10/2009 14:31
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New US ambassador presents
credentials to the Pope






VATICAN CITY, Oct. 2 (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI says the Catholic Church in the U.S. will continue to try to shape consciences on issues such as abortion and euthanasia.

The Pope told Washington's new ambassador to the Vatican on Friday that he is confident both sides will keep cooperating in promoting human dignity and rights.

President Barack Obama chose Hispanic theology Professor Miguel H. Diaz as his envoy to the Holy See. Diaz, a Catholic, presented his credentials to Benedict and praised him for emphasizing "moral imperatives."

Benedict says the Church backs the right of U.S. health care workers to be conscientious objectors on right-to-life issues. U.S. bishops are among leaders of anti-abortion initiatives there.

How media 'shape the news' to suit their ends:
The headline given to the above piece was "Pope tells new US envoy Catholics can help debate on ethics, social issues; praises Obama" - but nowhere in the item are those words (nor their sense) used at all! In the full text of the Pope's address, the idea of helpful public debate is cited, yes, but not praise for President Obama!



Here is the full text of the Holy Father's address upon receiving Ambassador Diaz's credentials:



Your Excellency,

I am pleased to accept the Letters by which you are accredited Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America.

I recall with pleasure my meeting with President Barack Obama and his family last July, and willingly reciprocate the kind greetings which you bring from him.

I also take this occasion to express my confidence that diplomatic relations between the United States and the Holy See, formally initiated twenty-five years ago, will continue to be marked by fruitful dialogue and cooperation in the promotion of human dignity, respect for fundamental human rights, and the service of justice, solidarity and peace within the whole human family.

In the course of my Pastoral Visit to your country last year I was pleased to encounter a vibrant democracy, committed to the service of the common good and shaped by a vision of equality and equal opportunity based on the God-given dignity and freedom of each human being.

That vision, enshrined in the nation’s founding documents, continues to inspire the growth of the United States as a cohesive yet pluralistic society constantly enriched by the gifts brought by new generations, including the many immigrants who continue to enhance and rejuvenate American society.

In recent months, the reaffirmation of this dialectic of tradition and originality, unity and diversity has recaptured the imagination of the world, many of whose peoples look to the American experience and its founding vision in their own search for viable models of accountable democracy and sound development in an increasingly interdependent and global society.

For this reason, I appreciate your acknowledgement of the need for a greater spirit of solidarity and multilateral engagement in approaching the urgent problems facing our planet.

The cultivation of the values of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" can no longer be seen in predominantly individualistic or even national terms, but must rather be viewed from the higher perspective of the common good of the whole human family.

The continuing international economic crisis clearly calls for a revision of present political, economic and financial structures in the light of the ethical imperative of ensuring the integral development of all people.

What is needed, in effect, is a model of globalization inspired by an authentic humanism, in which the world’s peoples are seen not merely as neighbors but as brothers and sisters.

Multilateralism, for its part, should not be restricted to purely economic and political questions; rather, it should find expression in a resolve to address the whole spectrum of issues linked to the future of humanity and the promotion of human dignity, including secure access to food and water, basic health care, just policies governing commerce and immigration, particularly where families are concerned, climate control and care for the environment, and the elimination of the scourge of nuclear weapons.

With regard to the latter issue, I wish to express my satisfaction for the recent Meeting of the United Nations Security Council chaired by President Obama, which unanimously approved the resolution on atomic disarmament and set before the international community the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons. This is a promising sign on the eve of the Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Genuine progress, as the Church’s social teaching insists, must be integral and humane; it cannot prescind from the truth about human beings and must always be directed to their authentic good. In a word, fidelity to man requires fidelity to the truth, which alone is the guarantee of freedom and real development.

For her part the Church in the United States wishes to contribute to the discussion of the weighty ethical and social questions shaping America’s future by proposing respectful and reasonable arguments grounded in the natural law and confirmed by the perspective of faith.

Religious vision and religious imagination do not straiten but enrich political and ethical discourse, and the religions, precisely because they deal with the ultimate destiny of every man and woman, are called to be a prophetic force for human liberation and development throughout the world, particularly in areas torn by hostility and conflict.

In my recent visit to the Holy Land I stressed the value of understanding and cooperation among the followers of the various religions in the service of peace, and so I note with appreciation your government’s desire to promote such cooperation as part of a broader dialogue between cultures and peoples.

Allow me, Mr. Ambassador, to reaffirm a conviction which I expressed at the outset of my Apostolic Journey to the United States. Freedom – the freedom which Americans rightly hold dear – "is not only a gift but also a summons to personal responsibility;" it is "a challenge held out to each generation, and it must constantly be won over to the cause of good" (Address at the White House, 16 April 2008).

The preservation of freedom is inseparably linked to respect for truth and the pursuit of authentic human flourishing. The crisis of our modern democracies calls for a renewed commitment to reasoned dialogue in the discernment of wise and just policies respectful of human nature and human dignity.

The Church in the United States contributes to this discernment particularly through the formation of consciences and her educational apostolate, by which she makes a significant and positive contribution to American civic life and public discourse.

Here I think particularly of the need for a clear discernment with regard to issues touching the protection of human dignity and respect for the inalienable right to life from the moment of conception to natural death, as well as the protection of the right to conscientious objection on the part of health care workers, and indeed all citizens.

The Church insists on the unbreakable link between an ethics of life and every other aspect of social ethics, for she is convinced that, in the prophetic words of the late Pope John Paul II, "a society lacks solid foundations when, on the one hand, it asserts values such as the dignity of the person, justice and peace, but then, on the other hand, radically acts to the contrary by allowing or tolerating a variety of ways in which human life is devalued and violated, especially where it is weak or marginalized" (Evangelium Vitae, 93; cf. Caritas in Veritate, 15).

Mr. Ambassador, as you undertake your new mission in the service of your country I offer you my good wishes and the promise of my prayers. Be assured that you may always count on the offices of the Holy See to assist and support you in the fulfillment of your duties. Upon you and your family, and upon all the beloved American people, I cordially invoke God’s blessings of wisdom, strength and peace.




About the new ambassador

Ambassador Díaz was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1963 to a working-class couple. His family moved to Spain and then to the United States when he was a child. He is married and has four children.

He is a Professor of Theology at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University in Minnesota. He is co-editor of the book From the Heart of Our People: Explorations in Catholic Systematic Theology and author of On Being Human: U.S. Hispanic and Rahnerian Perspectives, named "Best Book of the Year" by the Hispanic Theological Initiative at Princeton Theological Seminary.

Ambassador Díaz has also taught Religious Studies and Theology at Barry University, the University of Dayton and the University of Notre Dame.

From 2001 to 2003, he taught and served as Academic Dean at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Florida. He is a Board Member of the Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA) and Past President of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (ACHTUS). Dr. Díaz holds a B.A. from St. Thomas University and a M.A. and Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Notre Dame.

Besides English, he speaks Spanish, French and Italian. He reads Greek, Latin and German.


John Allen gets the obvious point in his report - and headline (it could be the NCR editor's headline, in which case, it is surprisingly objective:


Pope pushes Obama envoy
on abortion, conscience protection

by John L Allen Jr





ROME, Oct. 2 - Miguel Diaz presented his credentials to Pope Benedict XVI this morning as President Barack Obama's ambassador to the Holy See, and the new envoy drew a pledge of cooperation on international issues from the Pope, as well as clear insistence upon "the inalienable right to life from the moment of conception to natural death," as well as "the right to conscientious object on the part of health care workers, and indeed all citizens."

Both abortion and the rights of conscience are important issues in the health care reform debate currently underway in the United States.

Obama has pledged to make any reform package "abortion neutral," but the Catholic bishops in the United States say that so far, none of the existing proposals meet that standard.

In more general terms, Benedict XVI said he looks forward to "fruitful dialogue and cooperation in the promotion of human dignity, respect for fundamental human rights, and the service of justice, solidarity and peace within the whole human family."

Diaz was nominated by Obama on June 18, confirmed by the U.S. Senate on August 4, and sworn in on August 21. A professor of theology at the University of St. John’s and the College of St. Benedict in Minnesota, Diaz is the first Hispanic to hold the ambassador’s position.




The text of Ambassador Diaz's presentation
address, from the website of




Your Holiness,

It is a distinct honor to present to you my credentials as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Holy See and to bring to you warm greetings from President Barack Obama and the American people.

I am very grateful to President Obama for the opportunity to represent him and my country to the Holy See. My wife and children, who have accompanied me to Rome, have also welcomed our President’s invitation to serve our country. They join me in offering our familial, cultural, and educational experiences at the service of diplomacy.

Your Holiness, I would like to begin by recalling your first meeting with President Obama. President Obama was deeply touched to meet with you and appreciated the opportunity to hear your perspective on many important issues. With his support, the U.S. mission to the Holy See looks forward to building upon twenty-five years of formal diplomatic relations.

Your Holiness, since the beginning of your pontificate, your encyclicals have further developed Catholic social teaching, defending the dignity of all persons and inviting the human family to embrace the power of love in order to overcome conflict and divisions. You have consistently argued that “the love of God is revealed in responsibility for others.”

Most recently, in Caritas in Veritate, you pointed out some critical areas that urgently require human responsibility and action. Your emphasis on moral imperatives is unique in the world.

You have called for inter-religious dialogue for the sake of peace, authentic stewardship of God’s creation in order to combat climate change and ensure food security, an ethical response to the financial crisis to mitigate its impact on the poor, and international cooperation to address issues related to the migration of peoples.

Your urgent priorities coincide with those set forth by President Obama, and as Ambassador of the United States I look forward to working with the Holy See to advance our common interests.

In his inaugural speech President Obama challenged Americans to assume new responsibilities at home and abroad, highlighting our common humanity. He invited the people of our nation to go beyond simple words, and to embrace bold actions to meet the demands of our times.

He has alluded often to the fact that the United States of America is a nation comprised of a great diversity of people, representing a number of religious traditions. Our nation has been shaped by every language and culture and has welcomed immigrants to its shores from every corner of this world.

Indeed, as the President has underscored, America has struggled for centuries to give meaning to the notion that all are created equal, and as Americans, we are dedicated to a simple principle: E pluribus unum — “Out of many, one.”

Your Holiness, in his groundbreaking speech in Cairo, President Obama reaffirmed his commitment to democracy and the need to turn interfaith dialogue into interfaith service so as to enable the building of bridges between people and to facilitate humanitarian actions.

He argued for the use of power through mutual consent, for respect of the rights of minorities, and for democratic participation to be carried out in the spirit of tolerance and compromise. Above all, President Obama reaffirmed that the one rule central to all religions is that “we do unto others as we would have them do unto us.”

The United States profoundly respects the Holy See as a sovereign entity, as a humanitarian actor, and as a unique moral voice in the world. The United States and the Holy See have partnered in the cause of noble objectives.

Together we have spread peace, supported religious freedom and other human rights, fostered democracy, denounced terrorism, addressed poverty and world hunger, prevented human trafficking, and combated the spread of HIV/AIDS and other terrible diseases.

The mission at the Holy See will soon host a conference with Caritas Internationalis on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. In the years ahead, we will continue to work with the Holy See and Vatican-affiliated organizations on similar initiatives.

In a special way, I wish to express my desire as ambassador to partner with the Holy See on issues related to interfaith, inter-racial, and intercultural conversations in order to advance the cause of peace and understanding among peoples.

Your Holiness, more than ever the United States realizes that we cannot act alone. Indeed, as you stated so eloquently in your most recent encyclical, “the development of peoples depends, above all, on a recognition that the human race is a single family working together in true communion, not simply a group of subjects who happen to live side by side.”

Reading this, I was reminded of candidate Obama who in his historic address in Berlin entitled “A World that Stands as One” stated: “The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christians and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.” He went on to exhort people of good will everywhere that “now is the time to build bridges across the globe as strong as the one that bound us across the Atlantic.”

Your Holiness, my nation looks forward to working with the Holy See to ensure that the old and the young may embrace the audacity to hope, celebrate in the fruition of justice, and work together to defend fundamental human rights, economic opportunity for all, peace in our world, and respect for the dignity of all human persons.

As I take up my position as the ninth United States Ambassador to the Holy See, I promise to serve as a bridge-builder between the United States and the Holy See.

As a representative of President Obama and the great people of the United States of America, I have been entrusted with the responsibility of leading by listening to, and learning from, others. I accept this responsibility with joy and humility and will work to strengthen the indispensable relationship between the Holy See and the United States of America.

Thank you, Your Holiness.



I don't believe I have read a presentation speech by an ambassador that read,
more than anything else, like a hymn of praise to the nation's leader!
Compare it to Ambassador Mary Ann Glendon's presentation speech in February last year
vatican.usembassy.gov/viewer/article.asp?idSite=1&article=/file2008_02/alia/a802...
where she properly mentions President Bush only at the start of her address.



[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 03/10/2009 03:28]
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