Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Rudd moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform

By Richard Laidlaw - posted Friday, 1 August 2008


Australia, that most secular of nations, has just appointed a fulltime ambassador to The Vatican. The post had previously been filled by the dual appointment of the Australian ambassador to Ireland, resident - sensibly - in Dublin, as Australia’s Vatican envoy.

There’s nothing wrong with having diplomatic relations with The Vatican (and certainly if we must have a resident envoy, Tim Fischer, former National Party leader and deputy prime minister, is an inspired choice).

The Vatican is a state - albeit of the micro variety - and its reason for being a state, that it is the extant pimple on the venerable remains of the rump of the long-dead Papal States, carries as much validity as many. As San Marino, say; or Monaco; Andorra; Liechtenstein; or even Nauru: they are all miniaturised historical accidents too.

Advertisement

Yet there is something disquieting about the decision to significantly upgrade Australia’s relations with the Holy See. It is clearly one that was made by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. He’s not actually running for sainthood - well, we don’t think so - but he does seem to be carving out a prime ministership that may well win gold for meddlesomeness.

He now wants to go on a “faith offensive”, or so we are told by Dennis Shanahan in The Australian newspaper. According to Shanahan, Rudd seeks to create a global diplomatic environment in which the great cause of interfaith dialogue, and thus (he asserts) security and wellbeing, will be advanced. That is unproblematic. Let the people chat. But The Vatican is given an advantage here that is neither fair nor, arguably, in the end beneficial.

The Holy See is not just a state: it is a state of mind. Moreover, it is a religious state of mind; and it is only one - certainly the most powerful one - of a range of such religious states of mind within just one religion, Christianity.

It is of course a special one, and not only because history welded formal statehood onto its religious foundation. The Vatican is a Christian caliphate. It possesses a leader believed by the faithful to have been appointed by God through the medium of the College of Cardinals and whose pronouncements once in office are regarded as infallible. It has immense political power and great wealth to pursue temporal as well as religious aims. Its writ runs wider and its clout is far stronger than those of other Christian communions which seek to advance moral suasion and ritual among their adherents.

It is therefore in a hugely privileged position in advancing the Catholic cause when compared with the effort that can be made by other Christian sects and other religions.

If it is now Australian policy to bolster Catholic privilege and boost Catholicism’s political firepower, then the Prime Minister should say so. If it is not - and most Australians, Catholic or not, would surely hope this is the case - then he should explain why he believes it is necessary.

Advertisement

There exists no political means of housing a resident envoy at Lambeth Palace, the centre of the Anglican Communion, for example.

Nor can Australia - or any other country - formally engage the Copts in diplomatic communion. No infrastructure exists that would permit foreign envoys to represent their nations’ view to Orthodox Christians. For the same reason we must leave the Buddhists alone and the Hindus unmolested.

No central headquarters makes it possible to send ambassadors to the panoply of the Islamic religious. We cannot commune, diplomatically, with the Zoroastrians, the Baha’is, the Mormons, or the Jews.

(It would certainly be unwise to attempt official communion with another, much younger, religious community, the John Frum Cargo Cult, since its adherents would immediately call for frequent air supply flights. It could, though, be argued that Australia’s south-west Pacific aid program already answers those prayers in its liturgy, albeit not by parachute or by DC-3.)

Rudd’s announcement of a resident ambassador at The Vatican came at the end of the July visit to Sydney by the Pope - Benedict XVI, previously Cardinal Ratzinger, once known as “God's Rottweiler” but now, apparently, as the “German Shepherd”.

That visit, for “World Youth Day”, a Catholic festival, had all the zing of an old Roman Triumph, and a lot of the hysteria historically associated with such events. But even so, and even though it was accompanied by draconian, suppressive legislation and the remains of an Italian pre-saint in a coffin - the former because Australia is the most over-regulated and officially harassed country on Earth; the latter apparently on a wink and a nod from the customs and quarantine authorities, which are otherwise so concerned about foreign bodies that they prosecute people for bringing in pâté - it was unambiguously a good thing.

There is no reason to deny the Pope the honour and adulation (or even the forelock-tugging) that goes with high office, or to quarantine his Australian flock from the benefit of direct contact. And there is precedent, after all. Australians customarily do the same for the Queen; and she is head of the Church of England.

It was a circus with some merit, in other words. That it was marked by political game-playing and advantage seeking is unremarkable. That Rudd should seek to have the papal glow shine upon his announcement of yet another mission to save the world from itself is also no surprise.

His cheer squad notes that his faith-based approach is not merely ecumenical - he was raised a Catholic, became an Anglican, and apparently now claps along happily with the evangelical wing of that communion - but also multi-religious.

They say Rudd will be discussing such matters (in the context of interfaith conversation, international relations and social advance) with other political leaders on his global travels, as and when they occur.

But will the fact that Australia has now committed to open-ended multi-million-dollar funding of a fulltime embassy to the Holy See add any real clout to such prime ministerial presentations? That’s the real multi-million-dollar question.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. All

First published at Tropicalities, the author's blog.



Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

14 posts so far.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Author

Richard Laidlaw is a former Queensland journalist and political adviser who now divides his time between Western Australia and Indonesia. He writes a blog and a diary at www.8degreesoflatitude.com. Email richardlaidlaw1944@gmail.com.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by Richard Laidlaw

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Article Tools
Comment 14 comments
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy