(Vatican Radio) His Royal Highness Jaime de Bourbon de Parme is the new Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Holy See.
He presented his Letters of Credence to Pope Francis on Saturday morning in the Vatican and spent time discussing a series of issues of mutual concern including peace, the environment and Cuba.
Speaking to Vatican Radio’s Sean-Patrick Lovett straight after that encounter, the Ambassador highlighted his wish to continue his work in building peace economies.
Listen to the interview:
His Highness explains that diplomacy and conflict management have been very much part of his life up until this moment.
He tells of his work in conflict zones doing peace negotiations in Afghanistan, in Iraq and in African countries like Congo.
Conflict management, he says, is also in his genes. His grandfather, Xavier Bourbon de Parme, fought in the 1st World War, the Spanish civil war, and for the Resistance during World War II. He was confined in a concentration camp – and survived.
For generations his family has been marked by a history of war and a longing for peace, a longing he carries with him today
“Coming to the Vatican is a culmination of my experience”, he says. The Ambassador has a wealth of field experience which includes international work with aid organizations, think tanks and businesses, always within the perspective of finding solutions and creating peace economies. Which is why he values the opportunites offered by his new role: “I have never worked with value-based organizations”, he says. “The biggest value-based organization in the world is the Holy See, and that is what brings me here today”.
His Highness also talks about a series of documentaries he made called “Africa: War is Business” which took him to the Congo, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Experiencing conflict close up left an indelible impression on him: “I lost 22 colleagues in a bomb attack in Iraq. First you feel incredible anger and only months later, sorrow. So just imagine what the people who live in war zones feel… What if you live in Iraq and your own family is under fire? The experience created a sense of compassion and comprehension for what happens in war zones”.
In Congo he saw first-hand the relationship between economy and conflict: “There are specific mines in Kivu that provide the war lords with an income and the money to buy weapons. But who buys these minerals? We all do. Indirectly we all contribute to the war in Congo. Once I realized that, with a group of industry, we managed to create a peace economy in Eastern Congo”.
The Ambassador also describes his meeting with Pope Francis in the Vatican. He says they spoke at length in Spanish, his father’s language, about peace and the latest developments regarding Cuba.
“One of the things I asked the Pope was why it was possible now. He said: ‘Well, they wanted peace but they couldn’t find each other so they needed a bridge’. And so the Pope played the role of a bridge in the peace talks in Cuba…”
And that, in synthesis, is how His Highness Jaime de Bourbon de Parme sees his own role as the Netherland’s new Ambassador: a bridge between the government and people of his country and the “value-based, faith-based organization” that is the Holy See.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) His Royal Highness Jaime de Bourbon de Parme is the new Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Holy See.
He presented his Letters of Credence to Pope Francis on Saturday morning in the Vatican and spent time discussing a series of issues of mutual concern including peace, the environment and Cuba.
Speaking to Vatican Radio’s Sean-Patrick Lovett straight after that encounter, the Ambassador highlighted his wish to continue his work in building peace economies.
Listen to the interview:
His Highness explains that diplomacy and conflict management have been very much part of his life up until this moment.
He tells of his work in conflict zones doing peace negotiations in Afghanistan, in Iraq and in African countries like Congo.
Conflict management, he says, is also in his genes. His grandfather, Xavier Bourbon de Parme, fought in the 1st World War, the Spanish civil war, and for the Resistance during World War II. He was confined in a concentration camp – and survived.
For generations his family has been marked by a history of war and a longing for peace, a longing he carries with him today
“Coming to the Vatican is a culmination of my experience”, he says. The Ambassador has a wealth of field experience which includes international work with aid organizations, think tanks and businesses, always within the perspective of finding solutions and creating peace economies. Which is why he values the opportunites offered by his new role: “I have never worked with value-based organizations”, he says. “The biggest value-based organization in the world is the Holy See, and that is what brings me here today”.
His Highness also talks about a series of documentaries he made called “Africa: War is Business” which took him to the Congo, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Experiencing conflict close up left an indelible impression on him: “I lost 22 colleagues in a bomb attack in Iraq. First you feel incredible anger and only months later, sorrow. So just imagine what the people who live in war zones feel… What if you live in Iraq and your own family is under fire? The experience created a sense of compassion and comprehension for what happens in war zones”.
In Congo he saw first-hand the relationship between economy and conflict: “There are specific mines in Kivu that provide the war lords with an income and the money to buy weapons. But who buys these minerals? We all do. Indirectly we all contribute to the war in Congo. Once I realized that, with a group of industry, we managed to create a peace economy in Eastern Congo”.
The Ambassador also describes his meeting with Pope Francis in the Vatican. He says they spoke at length in Spanish, his father’s language, about peace and the latest developments regarding Cuba.
“One of the things I asked the Pope was why it was possible now. He said: ‘Well, they wanted peace but they couldn’t find each other so they needed a bridge’. And so the Pope played the role of a bridge in the peace talks in Cuba…”
And that, in synthesis, is how His Highness Jaime de Bourbon de Parme sees his own role as the Netherland’s new Ambassador: a bridge between the government and people of his country and the “value-based, faith-based organization” that is the Holy See.
(from Vatican Radio)…
Bulletin: December 21, 2014-Fourth Sunday of Advent
ECHOING MARY’S DECISION The angel Gabriel today confronts Mary with a mystery. The mystery of salvation in Christ is not a mystery that is solved, but a reality beyond our comprehension that we must choose to enter into. In the liturgy of the Eastern Church, everyone waits to see if Mary will enter into the…
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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received nearly 8 thousand members and associates of the Pope St. John XXIII Community on Saturday. Now recognized as an Association of Lay Faithful, the Pope John XXIII Community was founded by Fr. Oreste Benzi of the clergy of the Diocese of Rimini in 1968, on the basis of his decade of experience with young people – mostly teenagers – who had accepted his invitation and participated in his initiatives encouraging what he called, “A friendly encounter with Christ,” especially through service to and with the disabled, marginalized, the excluded, and forgotten.
Click below to hear our report
The work of the foundation has involved numberless teens who had drifted away from the Church, offering them the chance to have a truly liberating experience and choose to live the way Christ calls them to live. In remarks prepared for the participants in the audience in Paul VI Hall on Saturday, Pope Francis said, “Providence has made you grow, proving the vitality of the charism of your Founder, who liked to say, ‘In order to stand on your feet, you must get on your knees.'”
Indeed, the centrality of prayer to the life of Christian service has been a keystone of the Community’s ethos from the beginning.
The vocation of the members of the Community is to shape their lives in the image of Christ who constantly does the will of the Father. Prompted by the spirit to follow Jesus in his poverty and service, they undertake to share the lives of the least of their brothers and sisters by sharing their experiences and helping them to bear their plight. They place their shoulders under the Cross borne by others. Love for their poor brothers and sisters must urge them to try to eliminate the causes of need, and lead the Community to make a commitment to build up a more just world, and to speak out for those without a voice. This vocation requires space for prayer and contemplation, living the life of the poor, being led by obedience, and practicing fellowship according to the Gospel.
The John XXIII Community officially became an association of the faithful of Pontifical right in 1998, and is now present in 34 countries around the globe.
(from Vatican Radio)…