Vatican: France should have an ambassador to the Holy See soon

The Villa Bonaparte, headquarters of the French embassy in Vatican.

The last ambassador left his post at the end of February 2015 and the Holy See did not approve the first candidate proposed by the Elysée (see DICI no.333, March 25, 2016), but the new ambassador could, according to the Roman press agency I.Media on April 20, 2016, be named “before summer”.

The situation seems to have cleared up during the Council of French Ministers on April 6, at which it was finally decided that the first candidate chosen by the Elysée, Laurent Stefanini, would be nominated ambassador to UNESCO. “We are confident, it should not take much longer,” declared a Roman prelate. The French government did indeed approve another candidacy, that has now been submitted to the Vatican’s consent, after which an official nomination decree signed by the President of the Republic will be published. It could be Philippe Zeller, ex-general director of the Quai d’Orsay administration and former ambassador to Hungary, Indonesia and Canada. The 63-year-old is married with two children.

(sources: apic/imedia – DICI no.335 May 6, 2016)