The Dean and faculty of the School of Diplomacy and
International Relations were honored to host a lecture and celebration
titled "Pope Francis' Diplomacy" on Ash Wednesday, March 1.
His Excellency, The Most Reverend Bernardito C. Auza,
Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN,
offered his experience as a Vatican diplomat and commented on the
diplomatic priorities of Pope Francis.
"In the history of the Church," Archbishop Auza explained,
"we don't talk of ruptures or new starts. We talk of continuity – as
seamless as possibility – of a journey guided by perennial doctrine
discerned in the context of a world in constant flux. We love the image
of Saint Peter's boat sailing resolutely forward although battered by
gales and tossed about by the waves. Holy See diplomacy is a ministry
and task carried out in the secular world by the Church and in the name
of the Church. Thus, like all Church ministries and actions, it is also
bound by the principle of salus animarum suprema lex ['The salvation of
souls is the supreme law of the Church']."
Full transcript of Archbishop's Auza's speech.
The event, cosponsored by the Immaculate Conception
Seminary School of Theology, provided community members with an
opportunity to engage with the Apostolic Nuncio to the UN and the new
leader of the Newark Archdiocese, Joseph William Cardinal Tobin. The
event explored the role of the long tradition of Vatican's diplomatic
efforts around the world and its effect in the modern world in the
spirit of Pope Francis.
The School of Diplomacy and International Relations is
celebrating a renewed partnership with the Permanent Observer Mission of
the Holy See to the United Nations. With support from the School's John
Paul II Scholarship, this program will enable Diplomacy students from
Seton Hall University to do internships at the Holy See's Mission,
providing them a hands-on opportunity to apply the theory and concepts
that they learn in the classroom to the actual events and processes of
international affairs. This partnership will help students to not only
learn about but to participate in the diplomatic work of the Catholic
Church in the world and be able to model their diplomatic career in that
light.
