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… of being named American Ambassador to the Vatican?
I can’t guess Obamarama’s thoughts on the possibility, but I can guess the chances that the Vatican would accept Ambassador Kmiec’s credentials:
About the same as a snow ball’s chance in hell — or as Christopher Buckley’s.
From Catholic News Service:
But most importantly, the official said, is that the Holy See will not risk alienating vital U.S. Catholic organizations like the Knights of Columbus or the American branch of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, “whose role in the life of the universal Church is decisive, and who have already expressed publicly their disappointment with Kmiec’s role in the recent elections.”
The official also explained that the Vatican is “obviously interested in having a good relationship with the greatest power in the world,” but such relationships usually flow “through different parallel channels and not only the Embassy.”
“Despite the importance of a good relationship with the U.S.,” the official explained to CNA, “the Secretary of State privileges the relationship with nations with which it has concordats,” that is to say, international agreements that provide some recognition and support to the public presence of the Catholic Church, such as state support for religious education.
“If the office [the Vatican's Secretary of State] withholds the ‘placet’ –the official acceptance—from the appointees from Argentina and France, it could easily do the same [to Kmiec]” because “[we] would not risk alienating many U.S. Catholic organizations.”
The Secretary of State official was referring to the recent Vatican decisions to deny the ‘placet’ to a French Ambassador to the Vatican because he was openly homosexual and to an Argentinean because he was divorced and remarried.
(Hat tip: Feddie at Southern Appeal.)
Tags: barack obama, douglas kmiec, Politics, vatican
