US embassy cable - 05VATICAN507

C O N F I D E N T I A L  VATICAN 000507 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT. FOR EUR/WE (TCUNNINGHAM) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  8/5/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, UK, VT 
SUBJECT: UK IRKS HOLY SEE WITH EMBASSY CHANGES 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Peter Martin, Political Officer, POL, STATE. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
1.  (C)  The UK has rubbed the Holy See the wrong way with two 
recent moves that many at the Vatican have taken as slights - or 
worse.  First the British irked the Vatican by moving its 
embassy to the Holy See into the compound housing its mission to 
Italy - a diplomatic faux pas at the Vatican.  Britain will 
maintain a separate mission to the Holy See with its own 
ambassador, but some see the co-location as a threat to the 
Vatican's policy of not accepting dual accreditation to both 
Italy and the Holy See of a single ambassador and embassy.  On 
the heels of the embassy co-location, Britain raised more 
eyebrows by placing advertisements in the media for a new 
ambassador to the Holy See.  Holy See officials privately 
described the act of placing a public advertisement for a 
sensitive diplomatic position as "bizarre," and betraying a lack 
of understanding of the "special nature" of diplomacy at the 
Vatican.  The next UK ambassador will have significant damage to 
repair in Holy See - UK relations after this "brutta figura." 
End Summary. 
 
------------------------ 
Co-location Irks Vatican 
------------------------ 
 
2.      (SBU) The UK has rubbed the Holy See the wrong way with 
two recent moves that many at the Vatican have taken as slights 
- or worse.  HMG has moved her Britannic Majesty's Embassy to 
the Holy See into the compound housing its mission to Italy - a 
diplomatic faux pas at the Vatican.  Only Israel maintains 
co-located embassies, and the Holy See has chosen not to make an 
issue of the situation due to Israel's security concerns and the 
delicate balance of Vatican - Israel relations.  (Sweden moved 
its Embassy to the Holy See to the same corner building as its 
mission to Italy in 1994, but with the entrance at a different 
address.  The Swedish ambassador moved to Stockholm in 2001 and 
now operates mainly from the Swedish FM.) 
 
3. (C)  Britain will maintain a separate mission to the Holy See 
with its own ambassador, but some see the co-location as the 
first step towards challenging the Vatican's policy of not 
accepting dual accreditation to both Italy and the Holy See of a 
single ambassador and embassy.  This policy stems from the 
Lateran Pacts between Italy and the Holy See that created 
Vatican City State.  Monsignor Gabriele Caccia, the Holy See's 
third-ranking official in the Vatican's equivalent of the Prime 
Minister's cabinet, told us that the British had cited the lack 
of a security setback in their old embassy as a reason for the 
move, and put the best face on things by telling us that there 
was a separate sign for each mission on the doorway of the new 
embassy.  The signs "are the same size," Caccia added 
optimistically. 
 
-------------------------------- 
"Embassy will be Less Effective" 
-------------------------------- 
 
4.  (C)  Holy See UK Country Director Monsignor Bernardito Auza 
told us the Vatican had not formally protested the move, but had 
made it clear to the British that they were not happy with the 
situation.  He said he was aware that the UK was cutting costs 
around the world in the Foreign Office, but said he could not 
see how moving this one-person operation (the current UK 
ambassador is the only British diplomat accredited to the Holy 
See) would save enough money to make up for the resulting strain 
on Holy See - UK relations.  Caccia went on to point out what 
seems to be common sense: an embassy to the Holy See that 
co-locates with its Italian sibling is bound to become a 
subsidiary.  "There are different issues, a different character 
of diplomacy," Caccia said.  "It will inevitably make the 
Embassy to the Holy See less effective," he concluded. 
 
-------------------------- 
Former Ambassadors Protest 
-------------------------- 
 
5.  (U)  A letter from three former British ambassadors to the 
Holy See published July 17 in The Times of London and publicized 
in Vatican-based media was on the same page with the Vatican. 
The ambassadors protested the "downgrading" of UK relations to 
the Holy See and noted that the "Holy See's agenda...on global 
issues of poverty, development, and debt relief" coincided with 
that of the UK.  The ambassadors went on to note that the 
Vatican was "influential and well informed" and a "first class 
listening post," in which all other G8 countries have resident 
diplomats. 
 
 
----------------------- 
Help Wanted: Ambassador 
----------------------- 
 
6.      (C)  On the heels of the embassy co-location, Britain 
raised more eyebrows at the Vatican by placing advertisements 
for a new ambassador to the Holy See in the Times newspaper, the 
Economist magazine, and online.  The move became the talk of the 
Vatican among members of the Curia (mostly either offended or 
incredulous) as many first assumed the advertisement, originally 
seen on the internet, was a hoax.  Vatican-based media, as 
others, were bewildered by the advertisement.  One top Vatican 
correspondent put it this way: "Times are a bit tough at the 
English embassy to the Holy See... Normally the selection of an 
ambassador is a highly discreet process, often involving 
delicate questions of diplomacy, geopolitics, and both political 
and personal interests.  In this case, however, the British have 
opted for a much more direct route: they took out a help wanted 
ad in the newspaper."  Media contacts and others tell us the 
co-location and the advertisement are signs that the embassy is 
"just not on the radar screen" in London. 
 
------------------------------- 
Advertisement seen as "Bizarre" 
------------------------------- 
 
7.  (C)  The highly unusual move of advertising for an 
ambassador irked the Holy See to the extent that during courtesy 
calls made by the Charge in late July, official after official 
raised the issue out of the blue.  One member of the Roman Curia 
told us it looked as if after moving the embassy the British had 
now hit rock bottom.  Others described the advertisement as 
"childish," "bizarre," or betraying a lack of understanding of 
the "special nature" of diplomacy at the Vatican.  All were 
dumbfounded at the implication that there was no one qualified 
for the post within the British diplomatic community. 
 
8.  (C)  Country Director Auza (protect) said he was 
"disappointed, surprised, and embarrassed" by the placement of 
an advertisement and its implication that this was a job one 
would fill in such a mundane way.  "They've told us that this is 
a normal procedure," he said, "but it's not true."  Auza noted 
that the Holy See could reject anyone that the UK proposed, but 
said the Vatican would not want to add to the embarrassment of 
the situation - on both sides.  While acknowledging that a UK 
ambassador would not have to be a Catholic, Auza told us that 
the percentage of Catholics in the UK's foreign service is 
higher than that in the general population.  "It's really 
strange they felt they had no one at their disposal would be 
right for the job," he said. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
9.      (C)  Britain's decision to move its embassy to the Italian 
mission compound was sure to strain relations with the Vatican 
and hinder its mission.  The public advertisements for an 
ambassadorial position dug the British an even deeper hole, 
indicating a lack of sensitivity on the part of Foreign and 
Commonwealth Office officials that the next UK ambassador will 
have to go far to repair.  The diplomatic corps here has had a 
field day with the flap, snickering at the impression the UK has 
made, and suggesting various ludicrous candidates for the 
position. 
 
10.  (C)  For her part, current Ambassador Kathryn Colvin must 
feel as if someone is pulling the rug out from under her.  Her 
deputy was transferred from Rome at the beginning of her tenure, 
leaving Colvin alone at the embassy.  Now she has had to move 
across town to find herself in the domain of the UK ambassador 
to Italy.  It's no wonder she told a diplomatic colleague here 
recently she knows what it must have felt like to be the last 
British Governor in Hong Kong. 
 
 
HARDT 
 
 
NNNN