Jump to content
Join the Unexplained Mysteries community today! It's free and setting up an account only takes a moment.
- Sign In or Create Account -

Shutting down the Vatican's US Embassy


DieChecker

Recommended Posts

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/nov/26/obamas-call-close-holy-see-embassy-slap-face-catho/

Obama’s call to close Vatican embassy is ‘slap in the face’ to Roman Catholics

The Obama administration, in what’s been called an egregious slap in the face to the Vatican, has moved to shut down the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See — a free-standing facility — and relocate offices onto the grounds of the larger American Embassy in Italy.

The new offices will be in a separate building on the property, Breitbart reported.

And while U.S. officials are touting the relocation as a security measure that’s a cautionary reaction to last year’s attacks on America's facility in Benghazi, several former American envoys are raising the red flag.

It’s a “massive downgrade of U.S.-Vatican ties,” said former U.S. Ambassador James Nicholson in the National Catholic Reporter. “It’s turning this embassy into a stepchild of the embassy to Italy. The Holy See is a pivot point for international affairs and a major listening post for the United States, and … [it’s] an insult to American Catholics and to the Vatican.”

I can see this being put over as a security issue, or a cost savings issue. But really, I don't believe either of those excuses. I think this is a specific slap to US Catholics who are giving Obama a hard time in politics and with Obamacare in particular. Call it a Conspiricy Theory if you like, but it is a good one if it is a CT.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Just what a former Republican chair would say. And a former pope ambassador. But this "The Holy See is a pivot point for international affairs and a major listening post for the United States" is stretching it a bit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Damn if you do ... damn of you don't ...

The Holy Army ain't gonna be bothered much ...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just another example of how petty and vindictive - how mean and small a man Obama is. A Chicago thug writ large.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm waiting for Obama to make a freudian slip, something like when he next addresses American people he forgets what he is suppossed to say, and you all hear. "My fellow Indonesians"...

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Heehehehheh the Senate HOuse is laying so low it is practically now a homestay ~

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It would save a pile of cash though to move it all to one building, which is the plan. They aren't closing it they are moving it. They have only been using the building they have now since 1994, also the building is 60 years old. Everybody wants a smaller government to save money, this is how it is done.

http://vatican.usembassy.gov/embassy-info.html

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Vatican City is a country in and of itself. I can't see Obama getting rid of (say) the New Zealand Embassy.

However, you want a Vatican Embassy? It's call a church. There's lots of little ones across the world.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I believe that there are no Border Crossings or other such to get into Vatican City, so there are a lot less of the traveler issues that an Embassy is needed for.

Still, what are we saving a million or two, out of the Trillions that the FedGov spends. (And before anyone says, "DAMN! A million is a lot of money." Even a family owned business usually brings in several millions of dollars a year.)

If they said the money was being saved to pay Veterans, or to patrol the Mexico border, I'd be like, "Hell Yeah!". But AFAIK, there is no exact reason to shut down the Embassy office.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I believe that there are no Border Crossings or other such to get into Vatican City, so there are a lot less of the traveler issues that an Embassy is needed for.

Still, what are we saving a million or two, out of the Trillions that the FedGov spends. (And before anyone says, "DAMN! A million is a lot of money." Even a family owned business usually brings in several millions of dollars a year.)

If they said the money was being saved to pay Veterans, or to patrol the Mexico border, I'd be like, "Hell Yeah!". But AFAIK, there is no exact reason to shut down the Embassy office.

What is the exact reason to keep it open? That should be the real question...

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It would save a pile of cash though to move it all to one building, which is the plan. They aren't closing it they are moving it. They have only been using the building they have now since 1994, also the building is 60 years old. Everybody wants a smaller government to save money, this is how it is done.

http://vatican.usemb...bassy-info.html

This isn't what I'm talking about when I say we need smaller government, that's just an assinine statement.
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What is the exact reason to keep it open? That should be the real question...

I suppose because it is included as one of the Nations of the world. Should we close down all the small nations' embassies?

I bet the Vatican has an Embassy here in the US....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Ireland closed its embassy in the Vatican 2 years ago, and the Vatican has only about 80 ambassadors in residence, so it's not like we're in the minority here or being unreasonable. It's expensive two maintain two embassies, one in Italy, the other in the Vatican, so the one in the Vatican is shutting down and moving to the Italian embassy in Rome. There's about 58 million Catholics in the US, and 87 million who belong to non-Catholic faiths, so while maintaining a diplomatic presence in the Holy See may be tradition, it is becoming less justifiable.

The distance between the relocated Vatican Embassy and the Vatican is just under 2 miles.

Edited by Beany
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ireland was also in 5 to 8 times the financial crisis the US is in.

If this was 1 of 20 such closures, I'd not care. But is that the case? Is this really about 2 miles?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Umm this appears that they are getting rid of a useless diplomatic post to consolidate it with the Italian embassy as a cost saving measure. You would be grasping at straws to try and frame this as an attack on a religious group.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seems to be a bit of stretch to say this is an attack on Catholics given that this new Pope is right up Obama's alley - anti-capitalist, anti-business, pro-social justice, pro-income redistribution, etc. etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What's the beef exactly? How is maintaining two embassies approx 2kms apart of any real use anyway. It seems a sensible move, people attributing ulterior motives have alot more imagination than anyone at the Vatican - in fact Vatican folk are probably breathing a sigh of relief at the opportunity for some hard to get real estate in their little country.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They do not close the embassy, they just relocate it. And it's not like the old facility was inside the Vatican City, it was somewhere in Rome. So where is the problem?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This isn't what I'm talking about when I say we need smaller government, that's just an assinine statement.

What are you talking about in the need for smaller government? Not feeding children, disabled or elderly in need, cutting education or no health care for those who need it and work jobs that don't provide insurance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Makes sense to consolidate security and finances. I doubt it was done as a purposeful slap in the face, but I bet they were aware that it would ruffle some feathers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is some follow up...

http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/plan-to-relocate-u.s.-embassy-to-vatican-follows-recent-trend/

“Security is our top priority in making this move,” wrote Shawn Casey Nov. 27 on Dipnote, an official State Department site. The new premises, he argued, will be “safer, bigger and architecturally more appealing. It also is slightly closer to Vatican City.”

So, Flombie is totally correct in that the Embassy wasn't even on Vatican grounds anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, Flombie is totally correct in that the Embassy wasn't even on Vatican grounds anyway.

I thought I read that there are no embassies on vatican grounds. It's too small.

I mean, the first myth is that embassies from any country to the Vatican are actually in Vatican City. That’s not true. There are no embassies from any country to the Holy See that are actually located within the Vatican City city-state. All embassies of any country are located in the city of Rome. So that’s kind of the first myth out there.
http://www.state.gov/p/eur/ci/vt/rm/2013/218088.htm
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Umm this appears that they are getting rid of a useless diplomatic post to consolidate it with the Italian embassy as a cost saving measure. You would be grasping at straws to try and frame this as an attack on a religious group.

It's not designed to be an attack on a religious group, but more of a piling on to the hate train of the President.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.