Pope "Rejects" France's Gay Envoy to Vatican

The Local
April 10, 2015

http://www.thelocal.fr/20150410/pope-rejects-frances-gay-ambassador-to-vatican

Laurent Stefanini, a senior diplomat and French President Francois Hollande’s chief of protocol, was nominated in early January but the Vatican has yet to accept his credentials, officials in Paris said.

Normally a new ambassador’s credentials are accepted within a month and a half. The Vatican does not usually explicitly refuse an envoy’s credentials, but a prolonged silence after a nomination is interpreted as a rejection.

The Vatican declined to comment when asked by The Local if Stefanini, who is openly gay, was being rejected and if this was due to his sexuality.

A French presidential aide said that the choice of the 54-year-old to represent France at the Vatican resulted from “a wish by the president and a cabinet decision” and that the president regarded him as "one of our best diplomats."

French media widely reported that the apparent rejection by the Vatican was because of Stefanini’s homosexuality.

Le Journal du Dimanche quoted a Vatican insider as saying that the rejection was "a decision taken by the pope himself."

Liberation daily headlined its article on the story with "The Pope tarnishes his image."