Transformation of Vatican public diplomacy. New challenges and renewed strategic priorities

Abstract

The article examines the main guidelines of Vatican’s public diplomacy and their transformation. The Vatican’s current public diplomacy dates back to the mid-1970s and is associated with the Second Vatican Council. Since that event, the Roman Catholic Church has significantly expanded its activity on the international stage and also recognized the need to use the media and other tools to increase its influence. Faced with the changes in social norms and the national composition of the target audience, the Vatican was forced to abandon categorical and conservative rhetoric in favor of something more loyal to its traditional “areas of responsibility”: family values, birth control, women’s rights. At the same time, over the past fifty years, the content of the messages broadcast by the Vatican has also changed. The focus of the Roman Catholic Church has gradually shifted from the traditional family values to the environmental agenda and from the problems of the elites to the problems of the “poor”. The article discusses the consistency in changing the strategic priorities of Vatican’s public diplomacy and its desire to take an active part in addressing the global challenges through adaptation to social reality.