Former Vatican ambassador says church post was gift 'God gave me'

Published: 2005-05-13

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Jim Nicholson, U.S. ambassador to the Vatican from 2001 until January 2005, called the post a "gift that God gave me." As ambassador, "I was able to proudly advance the priorities of our president and our government -- our priorities for human dignity and religious freedom," he said. Nicholson, who is now U.S. secretary of Veterans Affairs, made his remarks in New York May 12 at the annual dinner of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, during which he was honored by the fund. He said his activities as ambassador included sponsoring several conferences on religious freedom in collaboration with the Vatican. "We had an impact, but so much more is needed," he said. The Becket Fund gave Nicholson its Canterbury Medal, which is awarded each year to a public figure who has "resolutely and publicly refused to render to Caesar that which is God's."

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