Rome, Italy, Jan 12, 2012 / 01:06 am
The departing Australian ambassador to the Holy See says that countries without a resident diplomatic presence in Rome are losing out diplomatically.
“It is so much easier to do the job if you’re on the ground in Rome,” said Ambassador Tim Fischer, who is stepping down from his post this month. He was appointed in 2008 as the first resident ambassador to the Holy See for Australia since the two states established relations in 1973.
“The Vatican is not entirely a closed shop, but you have to know where to look, which conferences to attend, which contacts to pursue. And if you’re only flying in for four times a year from Dublin or from the Hague or from Geneva, then that becomes very difficult to do in a comprehensive and professional way,” he explained in an early January interview with CNA.
Ambassador Fischer’s comments come only two months after Ireland chose to close its embassy to the Holy See in Rome, citing budgetary pressures as the deciding factor. The new Irish ambassador to the Holy See will live in Dublin.
The Holy See currently has diplomatic relations with 179 states, with about half of them maintaining a permanent embassy in Rome.