|
AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE
CATHOLIC CHURCH, WORLD POLITICS,
AND THE EXTRAORDINARY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE UNITED
STATES AND THE HOLY SEE
By Ambassador Francis Rooney
Washington, DC—During a period of immense change and
challenge for the United States, the Catholic Church,
and the world, Francis Rooney served as U.S. Ambassador
to the Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic
Church, under George W. Bush from 2005 to 2008. His new
book captures the interwoven nature of religious and
political power and the complexities, battles, and
future prospects for the relationship between the Holy
See and the United States as both face challenges old
and new.
In THE GLOBAL VATICAN (Rowman & Littlefield, November
2013), Ambassador Francis Rooney provides an
unprecedented inside look at the Catholic Church, its
role in world politics and diplomacy, and the
extraordinary relationship between the United States and
the Holy See. He argues that U.S. foreign policy has
much to gain from its relationship with the Holy See,
and vice versa. No institution on earth has both the
international stature and the global reach of the Holy
See—the “soft power” of moral influence and authority to
promote religious freedom, human liberties, and related
values that Americans and our allies uphold worldwide.
The timing of Francis Rooney’s assignment to the Holy
See came at a momentous period for both America and the
Catholic Church. America was four years out from 9/11
and locked in difficult wars in two countries, including
a conflict in Iraq—of which the Holy See had strongly
and vocally disapproved. The Bush Administration was
making progress in bringing democracy, freedom, and
stability to Iraq and Afghanistan, but it was difficult
on both fronts. And the Catholic Church had its own
challenges—the first of these facing Pope Benedict XVI
was succeeding the beloved Pope John Paul II. A decline
of active participation and growing secularization in
much of the Western world threatened the Church at the
same time that the abuse scandal continued to expand.
Still, the Church remained a powerful moral voice in the
world, and Rooney worked with the Holy See to achieve as
much diplomatic alignment as possible on crucial issues.
As Francis Rooney argues, the United States and the Holy
See remain two of the most significant institutions in
world history, one a beacon of democracy and progress,
the other a sanctum of faith and allegiance to timeless
principles. Despite these differences between the first
modern democracy and the longest surviving Western
monarchy, Rooney maintains that both were founded on the
idea that “human persons” possess inalienable natural
rights granted by God. This had been a revolutionary
concept when the Catholic Church embraced it 2,000 years
ago, and was equally revolutionary when the Declaration
of Independence stated it 1,800 years later.
Given our mutual respect
for human rights, it seems obvious that America and the
Catholic Church would be natural friends and
collaborators in world affairs. But this wasn’t the case
for nearly 200 years of American history. As THE GLOBAL
VATICAN demonstrates, both the United States and the
Holy See had to overcome deeply held convictions and
perceptions—entrenched anti-Catholicism on the part of
Americans; antidemocratic, monarchical reflexes on the
part of the Holy See. President Reagan established full
diplomatic relations with the Holy See in 1984 because,
among other reasons, he realized that he could have no
better partner than Pope John Paul II in the fight
against communism—and he was right. Since the fall of
the Berlin Wall, the Holy See has continued to play a
crucial role as a diplomatic force while maintaining
formal relations with 179 countries—a number surpassed
only by the United States.
The Church is one of the leading advocates and providers
for the poor in the world, fights against the scourge of
human trafficking, and advances the cause of human
dignity and rights more than any other organization in
the world. The Holy See also plays a significant role in
pursuing diplomatic solutions to international
predicaments, whether, for example, promoting peace
between Israel and Palestine, helping end the civil war
in Lebanon, or helping to secure the release of nearly
one hundred political prisoners from Cuba in 2010.
Francis Rooney contends in THE GLOBAL VATICAN that
American values and foreign policy goals can be advanced
in many parts of the world, including the Middle East,
China, Latin America, Cuba, and Africa, through closer
diplomatic ties with the Holy See. He notes that the
past few years have seen cordial but cooling relations
as President Obama has visited the Vatican just once
since taking office, and the Obama Administration has
demonstrated little more than a perfunctory interest in
the Holy See’s diplomatic role in the world. This is a
regrettable lost opportunity.
The power and influence of the Holy See is often
underestimated. A benevolent monarchy tucked into a
corner of a modern democracy, the Holy See is at once a
universally recognized sovereign—representing more than
a billion people (one seventh of the world’s
population)—and the civil government of the smallest
nation-state on earth. It has no military and only a
negligible economy, but it has greater reach and
influence than most nations. It’s not simply the number
or variety of people that the Holy See represents that
gives it relevance; it’s also the moral influence of the
Church, which is still considerable despite
secularization and scandals.
As THE GLOBAL VATICAN illustrates, the Holy See
advocates powerfully for morality in the lives of both
Catholics and non-Catholics, and in both individuals and
nations. One may disagree with some of the Church’s
positions and yet still recognize the value—the real and
practical value—of its insistence that “right” should
precede “might” in world affairs. At its core, the
Catholic Church is a powerful and unique source of
noncoercive “soft power” on the world stage—it moves
people to do the right thing by appealing to ideals and
shared values, rather than to fear and brute force.
There are limits to the Church’s ability to influence
the actions of societies and nations, of course, because
it cannot force its will with economic or military
leverage. But it is precisely in these failings that its
greatness lies—the Church appeals above and beyond
might, money, or political power to a deeper recognition
in human beings of what is good and right. Ultimately,
the Church has power through its consistent defense of
enduring principles—it stands for the same thing every
day, and in every place.
As the author and historian Hilaire Belloc put it, “the
Church is a perpetually defeated thing that always
outlives her conquerors.” And Francis Rooney proves that
there is much good still to come from the Church,
especially in areas where the Holy See and the United
States find themselves in alignment. |
