full interview with ACI Prensa<\/a>:<\/p>\nACI Prensa: You have published \u201cFaith, Life, Diplomacy,\u201d a book about your service in countries such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, where Catholics are a minority. What did you learn there, and what left a lasting mark on you?<\/p>\n
Maury: I discovered the great humanity of those peoples and the devastating effects on their souls of 70 years of communist and atheist rule. The Muslim majority and millions of Russian Orthodox believers abandoned their faith, while the Catholic minority preserved it \u2014 despite being deprived of priests for at least 20 years \u2014 thanks to the daily family rosary.<\/p>\n
Another thing that impressed me positively was the desire of the younger generations to learn and to serve society, now free from the terror under which their parents lived. This contrasts sharply with the apathy and selfishness present among much of Western youth.<\/p>\n
When Pope Benedict XVI sent me as his representative to those countries, I asked him for advice. \u201cGo,\u201d he told me, \u201cto the remote places where none of your predecessors has gone, and bring them the pope\u2019s blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did so, just as I have continued to do in the countries to which Pope Francis later sent me.<\/p>\n
Beyond the joy such \u2014 sometimes uncomfortable and risky \u2014 journeys bring to people, they provide an unfiltered view of realities on the ground, free from assumptions and prejudices, that can help enlighten officials in the Roman Curia.<\/p>\n
You began your diplomatic service in Rwanda. You arrived at a difficult time, amid the massacres in Burundi, and remained there when the genocide erupted. What do you remember most? Were you afraid of dying?<\/p>\n
I began my diplomatic service in Kigali at age 31, and I truly feared that a stray bullet might hit me. In fact, I still have one that came through my bedroom in the middle of the night.<\/p>\n
Certainly, no one intended to kill us, but the combatants\u2019 lack of training was evident. As far as I know, apart from a few Europeans who had married Tutsi women and were specifically sought out during the genocide, only one elderly French religious sister and an Italian volunteer fell victim to stray bullets.<\/p>\n
We should not forget that most of the victims on both sides were killed with machetes. In other words, people knew exactly whom they were eliminating.<\/p>\n
Civil wars are the most horrific because they are driven by hatred, even though they are often provoked and fueled by outside interests.<\/p>\n
A nuncio\u2019s mission is not the same as that of a typical ambassador. What are the methods and goals of the pope\u2019s diplomacy?<\/p>\n
I never tire of repeating that the Holy See has no oranges to sell and no oil to buy.<\/p>\n
The very purpose of Vatican City State is different from that of other states, whose primary responsibility is to ensure the well-being of their citizens. The Vatican exists to guarantee the pope\u2019s independence. He is the only global religious leader who is not subject to any political authority and is therefore free to proclaim the Gospel.<\/p>\n
The Holy See\u2019s diplomacy gives priority to the spiritual dimension of the human person, raising awareness among the various actors in the international community of the need and benefit of respecting and promoting human rights at both the individual and social level.<\/p>\n
Every country\u2019s embassies and consulates seek to protect the rights of their citizens abroad. The Holy See\u2019s situation is different because Catholics living in different countries are generally citizens of those same states, so there is, at least in theory, a convergence of interests.<\/p>\n
The pope has just traveled to Spain. I believe you worked on preparations for Pope Francis\u2019 visit to Romania. How are these visits prepared so that the pope\u2019s message has a lasting impact?<\/p>\n
I followed the trip on Spanish television and saw that the enthusiasm of the Spanish people for the pope remains undiminished despite social changes.<\/p>\n
I had the honor of helping prepare five apostolic journeys of St. John Paul II \u2014 to Rwanda, Uganda, Nicaragua, Egypt, and Slovenia \u2014 and I did indeed welcome Pope Francis to Romania.<\/p>\n
When preparing papal trips, one must distinguish among different levels: program, logistics, message, and so on.<\/p>\n
Lately, excessive emphasis on security concerns has unfortunately had the effect of distancing the pontiff from the faithful.<\/p>\n
As for the lasting impact of his message, much depends on whether it responds to the expectations and historical circumstances of the countries he visits. Normally, it is the local Church that proposes the motto and themes of the trip, although the pope naturally has the final word.<\/p>\n
This story was first published<\/a> by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The pope\u2019s representative in Great Britain is hopeful that Pope Leo XIV will visit England and \u201cawaken the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82343,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[36389,13,31922,31923,36390,36391],"class_list":["post-82342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-britain","tag-apostolic-nuncios","tag-britain","tag-catholic-church-in-england-and-wales","tag-catholic-news","tag-papal-nuncio","tag-vatican-diplomacy"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116915275902951301","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}