New Vatican Ambassador Mary Ann Glendon Presents Credentials and Vision

ROME (Zenit) - Faith and reason are at the core of the collaboration between the United States and the Holy See to protect the rights of all people, said Mary Ann Glendon.

Glendon, who replaces out-going ambassador Francis Rooney, said this today at a press conference held at Rome's Fiumicino airport to mark her arrival as the new U.S. envoy to the Holy See.

Speaking to the press in both English and Italian, Glendon said: "I am very pleased to be here today in Rome in a city that has long been like a second home to me. And I'm especially pleased to be here to present my credentials to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.

"President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have honored me greatly with this appointment and I'm very grateful to them. As many of you are aware, for many years I've worked closely with the Holy See."

After listing some of the many posts in which she has served the Holy See in both diplomatic and academic capacities, Glendon continued: "It is my hope, my conviction that those experiences will serve me well as I now take up the responsibility of advancing the relationship between the United States and the Holy See. That relationship has at its core a common commitment to the human dignity of every man, woman and child.

"Both the Holy See and the United States have a long history in which faith and reason are inseparably united in that quest. The United States is committed to make that vision a reality through vigorously promoting human rights, religious freedom, and through striving to foster dialogue and tolerance among persons of different faiths and cultures."

"As ambassador to the Holy See," Glendon concluded, "it will be my responsibility and my privilege to work with the Holy See to advance those lofty goals."

In 2004, Pope John Paul II named Glendon president of the Pontifical Academy of the Social Sciences, making her the first woman to head one of the major pontifical academies. Prior to her appointment, Glendon was the Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard University.

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