Related Papers
Religions
Geopolitics of Papal Traveling: (Re)Constructing a Catholic Landscape in Europe
Mariano Barbato
For the popes, traveling has developed into a key instrument for mobilizing masses, spreading messages, and shaping public Catholic identities. Traveling ranks high within the papal efforts to (re)construct a Catholic landscape in Europe. Thus, comparing the European travel schedules of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis in the context of their global journeys can help to understand their different conceptualizations of Europe. While both popes share the focus on Marian shrines, mass events, Parliamentary addresses, and interfaith encounters that has been established by their predecessors, their geopolitical strategies differ completely. Benedict XVI placed visits to major European nations and regions at the center of his travel schedule and tried to strengthen a historical Catholic identity. Francis shifted the focus of papal traveling to other continents and approached Europe from the periphery. He has visited the European institutions in Strasbourg and tried to shape an interreli...
The Holy See’s Vision of an Abrahamic Middle East: Islam, Israel, and Oriental Churches
2020 •
Mariano Barbato
The Review of Faith & International Affairs
The Diplomacy of the Holy See and its Transformation in the Context of Relations with the United Nations
2022 •
Marián Sekerák, Karol Lovaš
The Holy See has formal diplomatic relations with almost all states of the world and with international organizations including the United Nations (UN), where it holds Permanent Observer status. Its diplomacy considers the UN as one of the most important agents in international affairs. In the article, we clarify the Holy See’s role as a Permanent Observer and its views on international cooperation before the Second Vatican Council. We then shed light on the leading principles and aims of its diplomacy at the UN as verbalized through the papal addresses to the General Assembly, letters to UN secretaries general, and various messages. Finally, we describe the Holy See’s position in the long-lasting debate over UN reform.
The Review of Faith & International Affairs
Introduction: Popes on the Rise
2017 •
Mariano Barbato
'The Pope's own hand outstretched': Holy See diplomacy as a hybrid mode of diplomatic agency
2018 •
Jodok Troy
The unconventional nature of Holy See diplomats rests in the composite character of their ecclesiastical role as the Pope's representatives and their legal diplomatic status and commencement to ordinary diplomatic practice. Holy See diplomacy is a form of conduct created by a set of mixed secular and religious standards in which agents are guided by practices. I locate this argument within a classical English School and a conventional understanding of practice, diplomacy, and agency while incorporating understandings of the diplomat as a stranger. The article situates a Holy See diplomat's mode of agency as a hybrid one by nature, located at the intersections of political and religious modes of agency and substantial and relational conceptions of international politics. I probe this conceptual framework of hybrid agency by analysing episodes involving papal diplomats in turmoil-ridden historical episodes, and correspondence with informed agents.
Perspectives
Paradiplomacy and the diffusion of regional integration: an analysis of the Mercocidades Network
2013 •
Armando Gallo Yahn Filho
The process of regional integration in South America, or more specifically the process of regional integration with regard to MERCOSUR, took place in parallel to an increase in the municipal paradiplomacy. The globalization process, which took place after the end of the Cold War, opened a space for a greater participation of sub-national actors in international relations, not only because of the inability of the state to satisfy all local demands, but also because the sub-national governments´ perception of a new opportunity for cooperation being opened. In this sense, the South American regional integration process, which gave rise to MERCOSUR, was a base for the creation of an intermunicipal network called MERCOCIDADES, which resulted in an institutional space for greater involvement of sub-national governments in the regional integration process, with the establishment of the Consultative Forum of Cities, States, Provinces and Departments of MERCOSUR. That is, the diffusion of the integration process, from a paradiplomatic perspective, was an important element for the incorporation of new actors, strengthening it and making it more opened to local demands. It is said that the local is at the basis of national development, considering the ‘islands of development’ which are built along the territory of a country.
Philippiniana Sacra
Pontifical Diplomacy in the East Asian Region: A Pre-Pope Francis Era (1964-2013)
Angeli Francis Rivera
KAS International Reports
Microstate and Superpower - The Vatican in International Politics
2015 •
Christian E Rieck
The Catholic Church and International Relations
Jodok Troy
The Catholic Church is the oldest and largest trans-governmental organization in the world and particular Pope Francis’ reign reveal some interesting puzzles for International Relations. Nevertheless, in social sciences it remains an underestimated and unexplored actor. As in terms of social theory, particularly in International Relations, it is hard to grasp “the” Church (e.g. body of believers, norm entrepreneur, state of the Vatican City, Holy See etc.) This article places the Catholic Church and its activities in international politics in a theoretical framework of International Relations. In doing so, it puts forward observations that help students of world politics understand and, consequently, explain this multifaceted actor beyond a mere description. Displaying first the different levels of analysis leads to approaching the Catholic Church from different theoretical angles. In doing so, the article provides an understanding of the Church on the individual (its members and their agency), unit (the institution), and international level (the Holy See participating in the international system and society).
Human Rights Quarterly
The Papal Human Rights Discourse: The Difference Pope Francis Makes
2019 •
Jodok Troy
Religious actors and their political concepts are commonly assumed to be conservative, static, and aligned with the private contemplative world. Popes, however, regularly stand out from this narrative. The article contextualizes the papal human rights discourse since the 1940s and contributes a hitherto neglected perspective to the debate on human rights and religion in the international realm, illustrating that religious ideas and configurations change. The research, partially derived using discourse network analysis software, points out three key findings: First, John Paul II dominates the human rights discourse, which has gained traction since the end of the Second World War. Second, although Francis takes an outside role in the papal discourse, he does not differ in principle from the mainstream trajectory of the papal human rights discourse. Finally, third, from the first evocation of human rights by a pope, there has been a persistent trend stressing both individual and collective human rights. Moreover, the article illustrates that political and religious conceptions of human rights are relational, and even contingent on each other. The results offer ample reason to anticipate future papal political conduct based on the trajectory of the papal human rights discourse.
