Abstract
Catherine Pepinster interviewed academics, Church leaders, diplomats, and distinguished Members of Parliament to unearth the history and to highlight the prospects of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Britain. Pepinster’s vast experience as a journalist is displayed brilliantly as she uncovers the intriguing ways that Catholics have influenced public life in the UK and the mutual reciprocity between the papacy and the Crown over the past four decades. This engaging book issues a clear message reminiscent of Pepinster’s editorial role with The Tablet, which acknowledges the Catholic Church as an important political player on the global stage and issues a plea for its leaders to come to grips with this fact. Pepinster argues that the UK provides a unique litmus test to re-evaluate the ongoing effectiveness of the Church in European society—not least because the UK faces secularism with a Catholic past and a modern minority that includes immigrants from countries where Catholicism currently thrives.
After the Reformation, Catholicism was illegal in England until the Catholic Relief Act of 1791. The Catholic hierarchy was allowed to return to England in 1851 and diplomatic relations between the British Foreign Office and the Holy See date back to 1914 –despite the fact that official status was not granted to the resident UK envoy until 1981. In Pepinster’s account, the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown followed by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government built upon this relationship with the Holy See to advance health care, education, and environmental goals amid the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the rise of Scottish Nationalism. Pepinster argues that diplomatic relations facilitated by Francis Campbell paved the way for Pope Benedict XVI’s unprecedented state visit to the UK in 2010, which gave greater visibility to Catholicism. Moreover, Pepinster interviewed the Australian ambassador to the Holy See, Tim Fischer who claimed that the UK influenced the conclave decision for Pope Francis through Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor’s ‘most powerful non-voting role’ (p. 71). Such political reciprocity underscores an ecumenical reality and Pepinster devotes an entire chapter to the role of Queen Elizabeth II and how the previous Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams made significant progress amid a tumultuous decade. Readers interested in the history of UK-Vatican political relations and foreign policy will enjoy this very accessible and informative book, which makes a case for the strong and unwavering relations between Rome and Britain to remain.