The UK Government has announced the appointment of the new British ambassador to the Holy See.
Nigel
Baker OBE is to be the Queen’s Ambassador to the Holy See and will take
up the appointment in August.
The career diplomat follows in the
footsteps of Francis Campbell, the first Catholic ambassador to the Holy
See.
Having joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1989,
Mr Baker served in Central Europe and Latin America, most recently as
ambassador to Bolivia.
The diplomat also worked for the Prince of Wales
for three years and took an academic sabbatical living in Italy in the
late 1990s.
Mr Baker said: “I am delighted and honoured to be
taking up this posting. The last few years have seen the development of a
strong and fruitful global partnership between the United Kingdom and
the Holy See. The historic visit of Pope Benedict XVI in September 2010
reinforced that relationship and opened new avenues for bilateral and
multilateral collaboration. I look forward to the challenge of deepening
our engagement across the many issues on which we work together”.