The cardinal Pietro ParolinSecretary of State of the Vatican, visited the Spanish embassy to the Holy See to present the first biography of Faustino Sainz, a Spanish priest who worked for the popes from 1970 to 2010. It is the book ‘In the heart of Vatican diplomacy’ , by historian Xavier Reyes Matheus.
«Since we met in Rome“Faustino and I established a fraternal friendship that grew stronger over the years, when we both worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See,” Parolin confided. «I followed and admired his tireless work at the Helsinki Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe that concluded in the Finnish capital on August 1, 1975, and later as Apostolic Nuncio in Cuba, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Brussels before the European Union and finally in Great Britain where, already ill, he was able to accompany Pope Benedict XVI on the historic visit that he had prepared with so much zeal and experience,” he recalled.
Parolin also revealed that Faustino Sainz had personally assured him that during his career “the years that gave him the greatest personal satisfaction were those he dedicated to mediation process between Chile and Argentina». He was referring to the height of the Beagle crisis, when in December 1978 it seemed imminent that the government of Buenos Aires would invade some islands in the southern seas, in Chilean territory.
As both countries had requested mediation from the Vatican, John Paul II He commissioned Cardinal Antonio Samoré to represent him to try to stop the hostilities. The cardinal had the help of Monsignor Faustino Sainz, with whom he immediately traveled to Argentina and Chile, and managed to stop the armed conflict. However, it took another six years of intense mediation with the help of the Spanish, until in December 1984 both countries signed a ‘Treaty of Peace and Friendship’ that is still in force today.
«This exceptional episode marked a milestone in the millenary history of papal diplomacy, signaling in a very evident way that all the activity of the Church in the world is at the service of peace», stressed Cardinal Parolin.
Isabel Celaá recognized her work
Also the Spanish ambassador, Isabel Celaá, recognized the delicate task carried out by the Spanish diplomat, and reflected in this book. «His intervention in the resolution of the Beagle dispute probably represented the most valuable contribution made by a Spaniard to the cause of peace and through papal diplomacy since the great scholar and statesman Alonso de Cartagena (1384-1456) mediated between the emperor and the king of Poland and in various conflicts between Iberian kingdoms,” the text recites.
The work, following the life of Faustino Sainz, reviews the great events of the last years of the Cold Warand allows us to sense the delicate and silent diplomatic action of the popes before the Helsinki Conference in 1975, during the delicate ‘special period’ of the Cuban dictatorship, in the face of the corruption and flight of Mobutu in Zaire, or for the preparation of the European Constitution.
Faustino Sainz’s last major diplomatic mission was to prepare Benedict XVI’s trip to the United Kingdom, and accompany him from September 16 to 19, 2010. Three months later he was replaced for health reasons.
Diplomat Profile
Parolin described his career and, thinking of him, drew up the profile of the Vatican diplomat: «You must be and feel free of immediate geopolitical, economic or military interests; He is called to discern in his governmental, political or social interlocutors and in public institutions the desire to serve the common good. Without undervaluing today, you must work in the long term, without the obsession with immediate results. “You must patiently endure adverse situations or changes in plans that the dynamism of reality imposes,” he said.
Benedict XVI wanted to recognize his task by naming him a cardinal, but he politely declined the proposal. He died in Madrid in 2012. This biography, made from his unpublished personal notes and interviews with his family, collaborators and friends, was published in April by Sekotia, an imprint of the Almuzara publishing house.
#Pietro #Parolin #presents #biography #Spanish #nuncio #Faustino #Sainz