Diplomatic Demands: Vatican Vetoes U.S. Ambassador Candidates Who Fail Religious Test
Rob Boston printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Wed Apr 08, 2009 at 11:10:39 AM EST
One of my heroes in the church-state world is a feisty Southern Baptist minister named James Dunn.

James ran the Baptist Joint Committee on Religious Liberty here in Washington for many years. He is firmly grounded in the historic Baptist view that separation of church and state is good for both institutions. Woe to anyone who suggested that James was operating out of hostility toward religion. A man of deep faith, James would quickly set you straight on that.

I recall hearing James speak once on the issue of diplomatic ties between the Vatican and the United States. He said he was uncomfortable with the idea and noted that every U.S. ambassador to the Vatican had been Roman Catholic. It might not be a bad idea, he opined, to send a Baptist over there for a change.

Apparently that's not going to work. The Vatican would probably send him packing.

The Washington Times reported yesterday that the Holy See has rejected at least three candidates put forth by President Barack Obama to be U.S. ambassador. The prospects were apparently blackballed because they hold pro-choice views on abortion.

The Times, citing an Italian journalist, reported, "Papal advisers told Mr. Obama's aides privately that the candidates failed to meet the Vatican's most basic qualification on the abortion issue."

When U.S.-Vatican ties were proposed during the Reagan administration, Americans United vigorously opposed the move and warned that there would be problems down the line. It just wasn't right, AU argued, for the U.S. government to have formal diplomatic relations with a church. (Our ambassador goes not to the Vatican City State, an alleged country of about 110 acres within the city of Rome, but to the Holy See - the international headquarters of the church.)

Americans United tried to raise some of these issues in court, challenging the diplomatic exchange on church-state grounds. Unfortunately, a federal appeals court refused to deal with the issue and dismissed the lawsuit on a technicality, saying AU did not even have the right to even bring the case.

So now it appears that not only must the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican be Catholic, they must oppose legal abortion as well. I wonder what other qualifications a potential ambassador must meet? Must he or she oppose same-sex marriage as well? Can he or she be divorced? Will someone check up on the candidate to make certain he or she attends mass every week?

Imposing such qualifications on ambassadors would seem to violate the clear provisions of Article VI of the Constitution, which bans religious tests for federal office.

Here's an idea: Obama should name one more ambassador candidate and send his or her name to the Vatican with no vetting where that candidate stands on abortion or any other doctrinal issue. (Caroline Kennedy's name has been floated, but I'd still like to see James Dunn get it.) If the Vatican says no to that person, leave the spot vacant. After all, it should never have been created in the first place.




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I firmly agree that no such ambassador post should exist. Our Constitution declares our separation of church and state. Besides, for all intents and purposes, the Vatican is in Rome, which is in Italy, which already boasts an American embassy. The Vatican, merely for being the so-called holy city, is no more deserving of her own American ambassador than Florence, merely for having Florentine pesto.

by rage on Wed Apr 08, 2009 at 04:38:06 PM EST

You said that the initial candidates were rejected because they were pro-choice, but you also suggest that a Baptist ambassador would probably be rejected.  Why?  Aren't most Baptists pro-life?  There have certainly been non-Catholic ambassadors to the Vatican from other countries.

Indeed, the U.S. had consuls in the Vatican for much of the 19th century, and some (and quite possibly all) of them were non-Catholic.  But, they probably didn't advocate legalized abortion either.

The argument based on the "No Religious Tests" clause seems like a non-starter.  Even if there is a religious test being imposed here - which is debatable - it's being imposed by a foreign head of state, not by the United States.

by ChrisO on Thu Apr 09, 2009 at 12:26:23 PM EST


As well as being the administrative center of a major religion, the Vatican is also a sovereign state. To quote Wikipedia "Vatican City ..... is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the capital city of Italy. At approximately 44 hectares (110 acres), and with a population of around 900, it is the smallest country in the world by both area and population. "

So, if it's a country, we can exchange ambassadors. If we declined to do so because it is a religious state, where would we stop? No diplomatic relations with any theocratic regimes? Hardly practical in today's complex world.

And, incidentally, the phrase "separation of church and state" used by an earlier commenter appears nowhere in the Constitution. It is generally attributed to Thomas Jefferson and gives his take on the significance of the First Amendment. Now Jefferson is an admirable historical figure in many ways and a pretty smart guy, but his opinion of the First Amendment is just that - an opinion. The amendment says what it says - not what others would like to think it says.

I understand it to say that Congress cannot set up a national religion (e.g. like the Church of England) nor can it prohibit free worship according to whatever one's conscience might dictate.

Separation of Church and State, in the radical sense, might or might not be a good thing, but it is not what the Constitution says.

-Steve

by scrocker1946 on Tue Apr 14, 2009 at 02:11:05 AM EST



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