- 75-Year Journey of Mutual Respect, Interfaith Understanding and a Shared Vision for Peace
I am most grateful for the invitation to share a few thoughts on this anniversary, and I do so gladly.
This year marks seventy-five years since the Holy See and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan established diplomatic relations. To mark it we will gather in Islamabad — members of the Government, the Diplomatic Corps, religious leaders of several communities and friends of many backgrounds, in the presence of His Excellency Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, who comes from Rome for the occasion. That so senior a representative of the Holy See should travel here, at a moment when the international scene asks so much of everyone, already says something.
Seventy-five years is a long time, though not, perhaps, by the measure of this particular diplomacy. The Holy See has sent its representatives to the courts and capitals of other peoples for more than fifteen centuries, and it is generally regarded as the oldest diplomatic service in continuous existence; today it maintains relations with one hundred and eighty four nations across every continent. What strikes me, however, is not the number of 75 years, but what they contain: an unbroken conversation between two worlds very different in history and in faith, which have nevertheless chosen, year after year, to speak to one another with respect. Pope Leo XIV has underlined what religion can offer to diplomacy: “By fostering interreligious dialogue and involving religious leaders in initiatives of mediation and reconciliation, politics and diplomacy can draw upon moral forces capable of easing tensions, preventing extremism and promoting a culture of mutual esteem and respect”, (cfr. Speech at the meeting with the Authorities, with civil society and with the Diplomatic Corps, Yaoundé, April 15, 2026).
and sharing a message of faith, solidarity and goodwill.
People often ask me what the Holy See actually does in Pakistan, and it is a fair question. The centre of its interest is concern for the human person. Its diplomacy therefore does not look for advantage; it looks for those who are in need and are suffering, and for ways to help. It is a diplomacy that prefers to speak through action.
And that action is visible here every day. What the Holy See says in international meetings, the Catholic Church in Pakistan does quietly and daily: in her schools, her hospitals, her homes for the elderly, her care for those whom others overlook.
Underneath all of this lies one conviction: that we belong to a single human family, and we need to live together in peace and harmony. Peace is not an abstraction, nor the business of governments alone. It must be nurtured constantly, preventing tensions from accumulating and exploding. Peace is prepared first by recognising the inalienable dignity of every person and the sacredness of every human life. Peace is built quietly, in classrooms and in hospital wards, in neighborhoods, wherever one person treats another as a brother or a sister.
Pakistan has shown, in its patient work of mediation abroad, that it understands the value of building bridges of peace and coexistence between peoples. My wish, then, is a simple one. May this anniversary not only be remembered, but carried forward, and may it help all of us, Religious, diplomats and politicians, citizens and institutions alike, to continue along this road together, for the good of the whole world.
Holy See – Pakistan Zindabad!
Archbishop Germano Penemote
Apostolic Nuncio to Pakistan
