One of the best connected figures in Rome offers guidance to the president on who to appoint as his Vatican ambassador.
President Donald Trump has yet to appoint his ambassador to the Holy See, a decision which is likely to be made soon, particularly given Trump is expected to visit Pope Francis in May.
Any foreign leader looking for advice on who to appoint as their envoy to the Vatican should look no further than Carla Powell, one of the best connected figures in Rome who frequently hosts cardinals and diplomats in her villa just outside the Eternal City.
Lady Powell counts George W Bush, Henry Kissinger and Condoleezza Rice among her friends and instinctively knows the job of both an ambassador and how the Holy See works.
She is married to Margaret Thatcher’s former foreign policy adviser Lord (Charles) Powell and, speaking from her home in Palombara Sabina, 25 miles outside of the city, she offered some advice to the president.
Her five points of guidance include how the President should approach appointing his Ambassador to Italy which she included given some of the close cultural ties between the Vatican and Italy. All countries, however, are required to have separate embassies to Italy and the Holy See.
Here are Lady Powell’s five points for the President to consider:
1. “Respect, Mr President, the history and traditions, and the political and cultural values of a country a lot older than yours. Remember that Rome laid the foundations for much of the modern world including the US - your ambassador must think of himself as someone connected to an ancient civilisation on which our own is built.”
2. “Choose someone who will recognise the extraordinary skills and intellectual power of Italy’s foreign policy establishment, not least its knowledge of developments in the Third World and particularly the Middle East and Africa . Remember that Italy has built global links over centuries, whether the Roman legions or Marco Polo’s opening of trade routes to Cathay.”
3. “Avoid sending an Ambassador who is easily bewitched by charming courtiers with fictitious aristocratic titles. Choose someone who by his or her background will focus on those who represent the best of modern Italy: it’s engineers, its designers , it’s creative movers and shakers, it’s respected scholars . Someone who will break out out of the cloying and protocol obsessed circles of Rome and embrace the real Italy.”
4. “Appoint someone who understands the value of using the Ambassador’s dinner table for informed and sophisticated discussion under so-called Chatham House Rules where no-one is quoted , rather than for purely social purposes . Italians more than others conceive and express their ideas though intense and lively discussion of substantive issues . Your Ambassador should focus on the intelligentsia and those who exercise power and ignore social butterflies.”
5. “Make sure your Ambassador understands the global influence of the Vatican and its extraordinary network, particularly under this remarkable Pope . Even though there is a separate Embassy to the Vatican, the Church plays such a substantive role in Italy knowing its leaders is a must for the Ambassador to the state of Italy as well. Not for nothing do the British talk of ’Roman’ Catholicism! You will find the leading figures of the Church among the wisest, most stimulating company and most informative interlocutors your Ambassador will meet.”
For many years Lady Powell has observed how the wheels of diplomacy turn and insider her villa there are photographs from some of the 20th century best known figures including Colin Powell, Tony Blair, Lady Thatcher, and Dick Cheney.
Lady Powell also has close ties with the Vatican, helping to arrange a meeting between Lady Thatcher and Benedict XVI in 2009 while a delegation of top figures from the Holy See went to check in on her after she was rubbed at gun point at home in 2014.
Whoever becomes the new American ambassador to the Holy See will need to do exercise some careful diplomacy given the differing global agendas of Pope Francis and President Trump. While Francis is upholding the compassionate, liberal world order Trump has struck a more nationalistic “America First” tone. Lady Powell’s advice should help the new incumbent navigate some of the minefields.
