VATICAN CITY (AFP) — The Vatican denied Wednesday that it had rejected Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of slain US president John F. Kennedy, as US ambassador to the Holy See.
"There has not been any proposal regarding the new United States ambassador to the Holy See, and it is therefore untrue that she was rejected," the spokesman for Pope Benedict XVI, Father Federico Lombardi, told AFP.
The BBC, citing sources in Rome, reported that the Vatican has rejected at least three possible candidates, including Caroline Kennedy, proposed by US President Barack Obama to serve as ambassador to the Holy See.
The Vatican reportedly rejected the nominees due to their and the Obama administration's support for abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research.
Italy's La Stampa newspaper ran a front-page story on the affair Wednesday with the headline: "'Too Liberal' Vatican Blocks JFK's Daughter."
The US ambassador post in the Vatican has been vacant since the January departure of Mary Ann Glendon, who was named in November 2007 by then president George W. Bush, a staunch opponent of abortion.
Other countries have also had difficulties filling ambassadorships at the Vatican.
France has not had an ambassador at the Holy See since Bernard Kessedjian died in December 2007. Several potential candidates rejected the job or did not meet the Vatican's requirements, according to sources close to the matter.
The job finally went to Stanislas Lefebvre de Laboulaye, the ambassador to Russia since November 2006. He presented his credentials in January.
It took nine months for Argentina to fill its ambassador post.
President Cristina Kirchner originally wanted to name former justice minister Alberto Iribarne, a divorced diplomat who has remarried, but another candidate was named, Juan Pablo Cafiero.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
