President Barack Obama nominated former Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly to be Ambassador to the Holy See, a position that would require Senate confirmation.
The ambassadorship to the Holy See is one of a number of high-profile American diplomatic positions. It is basically the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church, and is more often referred to as the Vatican.
Every American ambassador to the Holy See has been a Roman Catholic, which is unsurprising. Following the introduction of the new candidate for the post, it seems that the tradition will continue.
Joe Donnelly has been chosen for the part.
According to the National Catholic Register, President Joe Biden has chosen his pick for the ambassadorship.
Joe Donnelly of Indiana is a former United States Senator and Representative. Donnelly would have to be confirmed by the Senate, which he previously served in. He joins a long line of former members of Congress who have been nominated by the Biden administration for diplomatic positions. Tom Barrett, Rahm Emanuel, Jeff Flake, and Ken Salazar are among them.
Since the 1980s, the official post of United States ambassador to the Holy See has existed. Diplomatic ties between the United States and the Vatican had been considerably more casual for more than a century. Current or past governmental figures have been granted the honor of representing the United States on occasion. But only on a sporadic basis.
Former Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. and former New York City Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. are among those honored.
a forerunner of the Holy See The United States had a formal connection with the Papal States for many decades prior to then. Former Wisconsin Governor and later U.S. Secretary of State Jim Doyle would be among the top American ambassadors to the Papal States.
Alexander Randall, Postmaster General
The reaction to Donnelly’s nomination has been mostly favorable. After leaving Congress, he joined the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, where he worked as an attorney. He’s also been a professor at his alma school, the University of Notre Dame. In a statement, the university president called Donnelly “an excellent candidate” for ambassador to the Holy See.
Donnelly is known for being a moderate-to-conservative politician.
Joe Donnelly has earned a reputation as a moderate or conservative Democrat during his political career. Donnelly comes from the Long Island town of Massapequa. After his mother died when he was less than a year old, he was raised by a single father.
Donnelly earned his bachelor’s degree in government from the University of Notre Dame. It was followed by a law degree from the University of Notre Dame. Before starting his own printing and stamping business, he worked as a private lawyer.
Donnelly served on the Indiana State Election Board for a short time in the 1980s. In 1988, he ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic candidacy for Attorney General of Indiana.
He unsuccessfully campaigned for a seat in the Indiana Senate two years later. Donnelly became a member of the board of directors of a Roman Catholic high school in Mishawaka, Indiana, near South Bend, in 1997. He eventually rose to the position of president of the board.
Donnelly ran for the United States House of Representatives from Indiana’s 2nd District in 2004. J. Christopher Chocola, the Republican incumbent, would be defeated. Joe Donnelly’s 2006 campaign for the seat resulted in a different outcome. He would be re-elected twice to the House of Representatives. In 2012, Donnelly defeated Republican State Treasurer Richard Mourdock for a seat in the United States Senate. In 2018, he was defeated by Republican former State Senator Mike Braun in his bid for re-election.
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