THE GLOBAL VATICAN

Francis Rooney deftly blends history with current events, erudite analysis with warm anecdotes in The Global Vatican. His fascinating book details the incredible history of U.S.-Vatican diplomacy since America’s inception. This book serves as a reminder to the far-reaching influence of two superpowers, the United States and the Vatican. All governments are advised to take into calculation the extraordinary influence of the Vatican at a time when people power compared to state power has achieved new preeminence.
— David M. Abshire, former US Ambassador to NATO and Special Counselor to President Reagan


In this book Ambassador Rooney has provided a comprehensive historical context to the Holy See’s contemporary foreign policy. As the United States Ambassador at the Holy See, Francis was uniquely placed to publish this book and to capture the essence of the Holy See in international diplomacy. In an increasingly networked world the Holy See with its global spread (which touches 18% of the world’s population) warrants serious analysis. Ambassador Rooney has done that in this text and has shown how the Holy See’s interests were transformed in the 20th century from a somewhat limited European dimension to fully global perspectives. Diplomatic relations with the Holy See do not simply exist on the international legal, diplomatic or political spheres. Because of the size of the Catholic population in many countries the relationship is part domestic and this perhaps is nowhere more evident than in the United States which is now home to the world’s third largest Catholic population. For anyone interested in faith and diplomacy, religion and foreign policy or the practice of diplomacy, Ambassador Rooney’s work provides an insight into quite a unique diplomatic relationship between the US and the Holy See and also between a ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ power, and is well worth the read.
— Francis Campbell, Her Majesty’s ambassador to the Holy See, 2005-2011, Deputy High Commissioner in Pakistan, 2011-2013 and Head of the Policy Unit in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office


Ambassador Rooney's study of the United States' diplomatic relationship to the Vatican has given us a thoughtful and well researched analysis of a significant element in Papal Diplomacy. His style makes it easy to read, yet it contains important insights bringing new light to a fascinating part of history. Students of the Church and of American history will find this book both interesting and useful.

— Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick