Vatican Diplomacy

I know, I know--sounds strange, right?  Excerpts:

...At a farewell reception in June, Valls Noyes explained why the Vatican is so important for international diplomacy. For one thing, she said, it has one of the largest diplomatic corps in the world.

The Vatican is also a place of confluence for social, political and religious issues like human trafficking, human rights, interfaith cooperation, peace initiatives and health care, she said. In addition to its official diplomatic arm, the Vatican includes innumerable agencies that deal with the ethical and practical aspects of these and other questions.

Rome is also a crossroads of church movements, lay groups and religious orders, many of which are actively engaged in international affairs.

For Valls Noyes and other U.S. embassy officials, one of the most rewarding areas of U.S.-Vatican cooperation has been on the human trafficking issue. The embassy has sponsored major conferences on trafficking and, more generally, on the role of faith communities in development.

"It's been an amazing three years. If there's one lesson I've learned, it's that people of faith and good will can move mountains," she said...