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France will go without ambassador to Vatican City until 2017 over refusal of gay candidate
France will forgo having an ambassador to Vatican City before French presidential elections scheduled for 2017 after the Holy See refused to accept the openly gay diplomat selected for the role by the French Government.
Laurent Stefanini was announced as France’s preferred candidate for the role in April, having previously served as France’s number two diplomat in Vatican City from 2001 to 2005.
The Archbishop of Paris, Cardinal André Vingt-Trois sent a letter to Pope Francis to support the French Government’s choice of ambassador.
Stefanini was rejected despite being a practicing Catholic who has neither married or entered into a civil partnership.
The issue seems to have been that he is openly gay.
The Vatican simply refused to comment or acknowledge the French Government’s nomination of Stefanini for the role and, according to a report by Liberation, the government has now given up on getting a response.
‘It’s dead,’ a source close to the affair reportedly told the daily newspaper.
However there will be some blowback for the Vatican as it appears the French Government is willing to simply go without an ambassador to Vatican City while President Francois Hollande remains in power if the Vatican wants to play it that way.
The post France will go without ambassador to Vatican City until 2017 over refusal of gay candidate appeared first on Gay Star News.
Andrew Potts
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