On May 13, Pope Francis received the credentials of new ambassadors from Iceland, Bangladesh, Syria, The Gambia, and Kazakhstan.
The Pope asked the diplomats a series of questions, beginning with, “When will we learn from history that the ways of violence, oppression and unbridled ambition to conquer land do not benefit the common good?” He concluded his questions with the thought that “until we come to this realization, we will continue to experience what I have been calling a third world war being fought piecemeal.”
The Pope then paid tribute to the role of the ambassador: “as a man or woman of dialogue, a bridge builder, an ambassador can serve as a figure of hope.”