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Vatican Diplomacy 101

April 24, 2026 · 35 min

Show notes

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” Archbishop Joseph Marino, former president of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy which trains Vatican diplomats, joins Colleen Dulle to give a crash course on Vatican Diplomacy: Who are nuncios? What do they do? And what difference do they really make?

Before the interview, Colleen also gives some updates on the week’s Vatican news.


00:00 Pope Leo wraps his trip to Africa

2:57 Meet Archbishop Joseph Marino

6:38 Nuncios, the Vatican's ambassadors

14:00 Do Nuncios have to be bishops?

18:25 Political diplomacy and Vatican interests

24:40 Vatican diplomacy before the Iraq war

27:08 The Vatican's diplomatic toolkit

30:15 Pope Leo's diplomatic approach


Links:

Pope Leo: I am ‘not trying to debate the president’

Pope Leo in Angola: ‘Put the common good before partisan interests’

Pope Leo to Angolans: ‘Build a country where old divisions are overcome forever’

Pope Leo tells Angola’s Catholic leaders: ‘Never cease to denounce injustices.’

Pope Leo remembers ‘the great gift’ of Pope Francis on the first anniversary of his death

Pope Francis remembered by those who knew him

Pope Leo’s delicate task in Equatorial Guinea: Bless the faithful, not the regime

Pope Leo calls on leaders to ‘bridge the gap’ between poor and rich in Equatorial Guinea

Pope Leo tells inmates ‘you are not alone’ during Equatorial Guinea prison visit at end of Africa tour

Pope Leo’s powerful lesson in vulnerable leadership

Pope Leo at year one: The progress of an American pope


Follow Colleen on Instagram: @colleendulle

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