Remember the cheering bit of news a couple of years back that Ireland had decided to close its embassy to the Vatican? Well stop being cheered, because it’s decided to take it back. It’s reopening the damn thing.
The Vatican Embassy will be housed in a separate building to the Irish Embassy to Rome, which is now housed in the Villa Spada, which housed the old Vatican embassy.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said new “modest” office accommodation will be found. Only one diplomat will be required to staff the new Embassy, and its focus will be on development aid.
Sources said the decision is a recognition of the change in papacy, and Pope Francis’s focus on overseas aid. [Read more…]