Latvian Ambassador Alberts Sarkanis participates in audience with Pope Benedict XVI

At the Vatican on 7 January, Pope Benedict XVI met with heads of diplomatic missions accredited to the Holy See. The official audience was also attended by Ambassador Alberts Sarkanis of Latvia, who was requested by Benedict XVI to pass on his wishes for a successful and harmonious new year to the Latvian President, the Government, and to all the people of Latvia.     

In his address to the diplomatic corps, Benedict XVI touched upon global current events in society and politics, stressing the need to strengthen initiatives for the advancement of peace and security, and urging the international community to make a global commitment on security. The Pope invited the gathering to take a more active stance in protecting basic human rights, as increasingly more regions of the world experience violation of the basic right to life of everyone. "Peace cannot be a mere word or a vain aspiration. It is a commitment and a manner of life."

Benedict XVI noted the Treaty of Lisbon as a promising step toward the further unification of Europe and that "the European home will be a good place to live for everyone only if it is built on a solid cultural and moral foundation of common values drawn from our history and our traditions". The Pope added that nowadays "diplomacy is, in a certain sense, the art of hope". "It lives from hope and seeks to discern even its most tenuous sign. Diplomacy must give hope."     

At the meeting, the Latvian Ambassador presented Pope Benedict XVI with a symbolic gift from Latvia - a few loaves of genuine rye bread from Normunds Skaugis's Laci Bakery. This, in the words of gratitude of the Pope, was a pleasant surprise and he expressed the wish that Latvian homes would never lack such bread.   

Currently, the Holy See maintains diplomatic relations with 177 states. Latvia is represented by Ambassador Alberts Sarkanis, with residence in Warsaw, Poland.

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