Vatican profiles new 'foreign secretary'

November 10, 2014

Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the newly appointed Secretary for Relations with States, is the first native English speaker to serve as the Vatican’s top foreign-policy official.

The 60-year-old prelate, born in Liverpool, has a broad background as a Vatican diplomat, having served on served on continent: in Tanzania, Uruguay, the Philippines, Burundi, Guatemala, and Australia, and as observer at the European Parliament. As apostolic nuncio in Burundi, he took up a very difficult task in 2004, replacing Archbishop Michael Courtney, who had been assassinated by rebel soldiers the previous December.

Archbishop Gallagher told Vatican Radio that he hesitates to think of Vatican diplomacy as a vocation, saying that he needs to “jealously preserve your priestly vocation in the midst of this if you are going to do something really positive.” But he looks forward to the new challenge.

“The world is becoming increasingly polarized and therefore they feel that their ambitions are thwarted and this therefore leads people into desperate situations,” the archbishop said. He believes that Vatican diplomatic efforts can ease the problems.

 

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Further information:

• Archbishop Gallagher: A priest and a diplomat (Vatican Radio)
• Pope names new ‘foreign minister,’ prefect of Apostolic Signatura; Cardinal Burke given new position (CWN, 11/8)
• New nuncio to replace slain archbishop in Burundi (CWN, 1/22/04)