I have been pretty consistent in throwing cold water on the near orgasms of those who have wanted to believe that Pope Francis is the harbinger of change and a shift toward modernity. Despite much greater PR skills than his predecessor, Pope Francis has in reality brought no substantive change to the Roman Catholic Church. Occasional nice words do not equate to a change in antiquated, ignorance inspired dogma. Now, Francis is showing his true colors as yet more of the same by meeting with France's openly gay ambassador to the Vatican and telling him that he is unacceptable. How should France respond? Personally, I'd recommend flipping the figurative bird to Francis by ceasing to have any ambassador to the Vatican which in truth is not a sovereign nation. The New Civil Rights Movement looks at Francis' contempt toward France and nastiness to Laurent Stefanini, the openly gay foreign service officer chosen by France to be ambassador to the Vatican. Here are highlights:
It is very unusual for a pope to get personally involved with the confirmation of an ambassador to the Vatican, but this weekend, Pope Francis met in private with Laurent Stefanini, the gay diplomat appointed by France to be its representative to the Vatican.
The French weekly newspaper Le Canard Enchâiné reported yesterday that during the meeting, Pope Francis informed Msr. Stefanini personally that he could not accept his appointment to the Vatican. The pope is said to have told Msr. Stefanini that France’s legalization of same-sex marriage in 2013 was part of the reason he could not allow him into the Vatican’s diplomatic community. Reuters translated this concern to mean the pope fears Ambassador Stefanini could decide to marry while serving at the Vatican.
[T]he Curia in Rome refused to act on the nomination - effectively a "pocket veto" of the appointment. Pope Francis himself was reported to have personally rejected the posting, telling members of the Curia that he "would not yield". The Vatican used this method in 2007, to reject a previously nominated gay ambassador from France. In that case, the French government withdrew the nomination after receiving no response, but this time around the French refused to back down.
The French government confirmed the papal audience took place, but is taking the position the meeting changed nothing. A spokesman said the Vatican still has not informed them Ambassador Stefanini has been officially rejected.
The French government appears to be determined; if Pope Francis rejects the French ambassador because he is gay, he is going to have to own his bias in front of the world.
Kudos to France. As for Francis, I extend my middle finger upward.
3 comments:
First of all, I want to say that I agree that Pope Francis is good with public relations, but has done nothing to "modernize" the Catholic Church. Nth at being said, I have a question: Why do you say that Vatican City is not a sovereign nation? According to the Lateran Treaty and a concordat in 1984, it is a sovereign state. I've visited Vatican City, and though St Peters Square is only delineated from Rome by a white line, it seemed pretty sovereign and distinct to me. I'm not trying to be disrespectful, I really enjoy your blog, I was just really wondering why you stated that it's not really a sovereign state.
One more thing, I think with the rejection of a gay French ambassador, France should withdraw diplomatic relations of any kind with Vatican City.
I agree with you that France ought to withdraw diplomatic relations of any kind with Vatican City.
As for the Vatican being a sovereign nation, remember who the other party to the Lateran Treaty was - a Fascist dictator. Also, I have a problem with what is basically a religion being afforded nation status. No other religion is afforded such status.
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