The roles of the Holy See and papal diplomacy vis-á-vis international organizations have a long and intricate story that spans centuries. Papal Diplomacy and the Quest for Peace explores the encounter between the Holy See and the international order, from the establishment of the United Nations (UN) in 1945 through the pontificate of Pope Paul VI (1963-78)

Vatican Diplomacy at the United Nations : A History of Catholic Global Engagement

[God’s Diplomats is] a mix of impartial description and informed opinion. Not everyone will agree with how different issues are framed, or how different figures are portrayed. But what certainly cannot be argued with is the fact that Gaetan has given a gift not only to foreign policy practitioners, but also to American Catholics. You will not find a book on Church diplomacy as accessible, comprehensive, and faithful, as God’s Diplomats. It is a must read for anyone interested in understanding the Vatican’s diplomatic priorities better — and especially why they don’t always align with America’s. ― National Catholic Register Using inside sources and extensive field reporting about the secretive, high-stakes world of international diplomacy, Vatican reporter Victor Gaetan takes readers to the Holy See to explicate Pope Francis's diplomacy, show why it works, and to offer readers a startling contrast to the dangerous inadequacies of recent U.S. international decisions.

The roles of the Holy See and papal diplomacy vis-à-vis international organizations have a long and intricate story that spans centuries. Papal Diplomacy and the Quest for Peace explores the encounter between the Holy See and the international order, from the establishment of the United Nations (UN) in 1945 through the pontificate of Pope Paul VI (1963-78). Both Araujo and Lucal have worked for and represented the Holy See in the environment of the UN and, to a lesser extent, other international organizations. Consequently, their investigation is based on not only academic study of papal diplomacy and its relations with international organizations, but also participation in the activities of the Holy See within some of these organizations. They contend that while the Church and international organizations have distinctive goals and interests which can introduce strong differences on particular issues, they nonetheless share other perspectives such as the maintenance of international peace and security. The Holy See has expressed general approval of the UN, especially its initiatives aimed at "peaceful coexistence and collaboration between nations." At the same time the Holy See has not hesitated to state its morally grounded positions on pressing contemporary issues (e.g., family planning, abortion, human embryonic cloning, and family life) that have not always been congruent with those of temporal sovereigns and international organizations, including the UN. To date, Pope Pius XII's initial aspiration to join the UN has not been fulfilled, but the Holy See formalized its participation in the General Assembly of the United Nations in summer of 2004. In spite of occasional criticism by some segments of secular society, the interaction between the Holy See and the UN continues to exist and to be fruitful in a variety of contexts. Papal Diplomacy and the Quest for Peace seeks to elucidate this encounter and dynamic by examining congruence and divergence on vital issues of great importance to both institutions, most especially the quest for peace and the protection of the dignity and legitimate interests of humanity. ABOUT THE AUTHORS Robert John Araujo, S.J., is the inaugural holder of John Courtney Murray, S.J., University Professorship at Loyola University of Chicago. A graduate of Georgetown University, Georgetown University Law School, Oxford University, and Columbia University School of Law, Fr. Araujo served as an officer in the U.S. military and was a U.S. government and corporate attorney before entering the Society of Jesus in 1986. He was a member of the law faculty at Gonzaga University from 1994-2005, becoming the Robert Bellarmine, S.J., University Professor in American and Public International Law. Subsequently, he was Ordinary Professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University (2005-2008), and has also been a visiting professor at Georgetown University Law Center, St. Louis University School of Law, and Boston College School of Law. In 2000-2001 he was the Stein Fellow at Fordham University Law School.Fr. Araujo is the author numerous law review articles on topics that include jurisprudence, public international law, Constitutional law, and Catholic legal theory. He has co-authored a series of books on papal diplomacy and international organizations with the late John A. Lucal, S.J. In addition, he has contributed chapters to a number of volumes addressing topics in jurisprudence and pubic international law. The late John A. Lucal, S.J., served in the U.S. Army and graduated from Georgetown University before entering the Society of Jesus in 1951. He was assistant editor of America from 1963 to 1967, and later served as advisor to the Vatican mission at the UN, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches Vatican Justice and Peace Commission (1976-80), and Counselor to the Director General for Socio-Religious Affairs.

This comprehensive collection offers a concise introduction to the institutional framework of the Holy See, conceptualizing papal agency and positions from a range of international theory perspectives. The authors – international scholars from political science, history, and religious studies – explore multiple fields of papal and Vatican influence, ranging from spy networks and inter-religious dialogue to social doctrine and religious freedom. This book demonstrates that, contrary to secularization theory, the papacy is not in decline in world politics. Since World War II, the Holy See has played a steadily increasing role in international relations. Globalization supports the role of the Catholic Church as a transnational actor not only in the advanced industrial societies of the West but also increasingly across the Global South. In this volume, the authors document the legacies of John Paul II and Benedict XVI as well as the current pontificate of Pope Francis from a range of contemporary perspectives. This book comprises research articles and commentary essays on the papacy in world politics originally published in The Review of Faith & International Affairs.

From the centuries-long prejudices against Catholics in America, to the efforts of Fascism, Communism and modern terrorist organizations to “break the cross and spill the wine,” this book brings to life the Catholic Church’s role in world history, particularly in the realm of diplomacy. Former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See Francis Rooney provides a comprehensive guide to the remarkable path the Vatican has navigated to the present day, and a first-person account of what that path looks and feels like from an American diplomat whose experience lent him the ultimate insider’s perspective. Part memoir, part historical lesson, The Global Vatican captures the braided nature of religious and political power and the complexities, battles, and future prospects for the relationship between the Holy See and the United States as both face challenges old and new. Updated now to include a view towards Pope Francis’ first trip to the United States, The Global Vatican looks forward to the revitalization of the Church in this newest global papacy.

In the corridors of the Vatican on the eve of World War II, American Catholic priest Joseph Patrick Hurley found himself in the midst of secret diplomatic dealings and intense debate. Hurley’s deeply felt American patriotism and fixed ideas about confronting Nazism directly led to a mighty clash with Pope Pius XII. It was 1939, the earliest days of Pius’s papacy, and controversy within the Vatican over policy toward Nazi Germany was already heated. This groundbreaking book is both a biography of Joseph Hurley, the first American to achieve the rank of nuncio, or Vatican ambassador, and an insider’s view of the alleged silence of the pope on the Holocaust and Nazism. Drawing on Hurley’s unpublished archives, the book documents critical debates in Pope Pius’s Vatican, secret U.S.-Vatican dealings, the influence of Detroit’s flamboyant anti-Semitic priest Charles E. Coughlin, and the controversial case of Croatia’s Cardinal Stepinac. The book also sheds light on the powerful connections between religion and politics in the twentieth century.