Sir, – Many of your correspondents are unhappy that we no longer have an embassy in the Vatican. But we never have had an embassy in the Vatican because it cannot accommodate embassies.
What we have had is an embassy in Rome, Italy, accredited to the Vatican. Since we could not have an embassy in the Vatican surely there is not a lot of difference between having an ambassador accredited to the Vatican living in Italy or alternatively living in Dublin? Fr Vincent Twomey (Opinion, November 10th) refers to “the Holy See as being a major player in the world of statesmanship”. If the performance of the Holy See in dealing with the requests of the Murphy Report Commission is an indication of the quality of its statesmanship then I feel we are losing nothing by not having our ambassador to the Vatican resident in Rome.
Furthermore, Fr Twomey’s statement that the Pope can come to Ireland “at the invitation of the Irish bishops or on his own initiative” suggests that the Pope is a free agent in relation to travel to foreign countries and that the assistance of a local embassy in Rome is not really needed.
I have no doubt but that if the Pope does attend the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin next year that our Government will receive him as a Head of State. – Yours, etc,