British Ambassador to the Holy See Chris Trott has voiced excitement over the recent election of Pope Leo XIV and has said he is looking forward to his part in the UK’s continuing collaboration with what he described as the world’s greatest soft power.
He also voiced his belief that the fact that Pope Leo is from the United States – while spending some 30 years as a missionary in Peru, including gaining Peruvian citizenship – won’t change the way diplomats or states engage with the Holy See, stressing that it’s about the issues, not the man.
“I don’t think it’s the nationality…I think what would change is if he started talking about a different set of issues” from previous popes, Trott said in a sit-down interview with <em>Crux</em>.
Both Benedict XVI and Francis, and other popes before them, took a consistent line on issues such as climate and migration, he said, adding that he does not expect this to change with Leo.
“The 21st century diplomat spends a lot of time thinking about soft power, as do our governments. We have to think about it, but the papacy just does it,” Trott said, noting that the Holy See has been a key partner in dialogue on issues such as climate, human trafficking and sexual violence in conflict.
“That’s all stuff that naturally comes to the Holy See,” he said, adding that governments around the world are beginning to talk about more seriously valuing diplomacy. “That’s why I love being ambassador here...I enjoy the work that we do in parallel.”
Chris Trott became the British Ambassador to the Holy See in September 2021. He has been a British diplomat since 1991, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/people/chris-trott"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">according</mark></a> to his bio on the UK government website. His most recent roles have focussed on the Sudans, first as the Special Representative for Sudan and South Sudan from August 2016 until March 2019, and then as British Ambassador to the Republic of South Sudan from May 2019 until the end of 2020.
He has worked in Burma, Japan, Afghanistan, the South Pacific and both West and Southern Africa. In 2007 he was appointed as Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Senegal, accredited also to Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde and Mali. In 2011 he was appointed as Consul General in Cape Town, South Africa, followed by a short stint in Honiara as High Commissioner to the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Nauru.
Among various roles in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in London, he worked as Deputy Head of the Human Rights department and as Deputy in a then newly formed unit in the Department for International Development designed to address stabilisation post-conflict.
An ambassador represents His Majesty The King and the UK government in the country to which they are appointed. They are responsible for the direction and work of the embassy and its consulates, including political work, trade and investment, press and cultural relations, and visa and consular services.
Below is the full interview with the British Ambassador to the Holy See:
<em><strong>Crux: You were in the square when the new Pope was announced, what was your reaction?</strong> </em>
<strong>Chris Trott</strong>: It was an extraordinary moment. I never expected to be in Saint Peter’s Square for the announcement of a pope, and the level of excitement and expectation and the fact that you really don’t know in advance. There’s very little in this modern world that you don’t know before it hits you. And the way that this was done and the chap coming out and reading the name in Latin…(we) had been doing our research, so we’d worked out once [he'd] got as far as <em>Robertus Franciscus</em>, we knew who was coming, but the whole thing I thought was spectacular. I loved the fact that they got all of the other electing cardinals out onto the balconies, which was wonderful because you could see the entire group, all of them smiling from ear to ear. You got the impression that this was the Church coming together.
The other thing I felt very strongly, obviously representing a country that has lots of Catholics but isn’t a Catholic country, was actually how important this election was not just to Catholic faithful, but actually to the world. I mean, you know, the way that Francis and indeed before him, Benedict, and you could argue further back, had shaped the papacy. It wasn’t about talking just to Catholics, it was about talking about problems that worry everyone and affect everyone. So, I was thinking about that as I look around the crowd, because yes, there were a lot of Catholics there, but there were also others there who were as excited as we were about it.
<strong>As a diplomat, what makes the papacy so interesting?</strong>
I think the 21st century diplomat spends a lot of time thinking about soft power, as do our governments. We have to think about it, but the papacy just does it. So, the way in which Pope Francis used his <em>Twitter </em>feed and the way in which I am sure that Leo will continue to use his <em>Twitter </em>feed, is a demonstration of how they can reach to every corner of the world, almost, and what they are talking about is relevant to everybody. So, it just marries that together.
We spend a lot of time as diplomats trying to think about how we promote a sensible dialogue on sexual violence in conflict [and] on climate or on human trafficking, and actually, that’s all stuff that naturally comes to the Holy See, and to the diplomats of the Curia. So, this is the world’s top diplomat, in a way, on some of that soft power stuff, on some of our values stuff, and governments have recently started to talk about values and diplomacy in the sense that [the Holy See] does.
That’s why I love being ambassador here, I enjoy the work that we do in parallel, not just on South Sudan, which obviously is my first passion, but, on all of the other conflicts around the world or all of the desertification or almost anything; it’s just fascinating to see how the Vatican engages organisations.
<strong>Did anything strike you particularly about the new Pope's words from the balcony after his election?</strong>
A couple of things really struck me. I loved the fact that he used Spanish to reach out to the Church that has been his life. He’s an American, I recognise that, but he also used Spanish to recognise that he owes his progression in his career and his loyalty to the Peruvian Church and to the people in the villages in Peru that he’s got to know as over the last 30, 40 years. So that really struck me. Him talking about peace and bridges was really powerful. Of course, we all know that pontifex means bridge, but you know, we don’t think about that all the time, and it was striking that he was, on his first afternoon as pope in his first hour as pope.
I was struck by his desire in a very respectful way, to refer back to Pope Francis. You got a sense that there was a lot of what Pope Francis had thought important that he would continue to value, but then you look to what he was wearing, and you thought he’s going to set his own standard, and it’s not going to be exactly the same as Pope Francis was. And I don’t think we should judge him for that, [or on] whether he moves back into the Apostolic Palace. Of course it’s interesting, but that’s not who he is. He has an office to assume, and he needs to assume it in the way he feels is appropriate, but that isn’t going to change the fact that he [reportedly] rode on a donkey amongst the villagers in Peru for most of his missionary work.
<strong>Many observers for a long time had said there could be no American pope because of the role that the United States occupies on the global stage, while others more recently have said that geography is no longer a consideration. Is it more about the man than the geography? </strong>
Of course, it [the geography] was a part of the consideration when the cardinals were sitting down, but I think the themes or the issues that the Church is grappling with stretch globally. Why would you just think, if you were an American cardinal, about an American; why would you just think if you were an Italian cardinal about an Italian? You’d be looking for somebody who has your vision of the right level of mission, missionary, administrator and pastor, and I think that’s the basis on which he would have been chosen.
What I find interesting, but I don’t know the answer to, is whether an American would have been chosen who<em> hadn’t</em> spent 40 years of his life in the mountains of Peru, and maybe that’s the difference. Maybe at this stage, they’re not ready to appoint somebody who has spent their entire adult life in the US, but who knows? I think it is a global Church. It is the Catholic Church, and I think the choices that they make and the issues they deal with are stretched beyond state boundaries. Although, of course, states are always going to want to claim and celebrate when one of their citizens does well inside the Church. I’ve had dinners when they’ve been appointing a British cardinal, for example, because it’s a recognition that the United Kingdom is contributing at a senior and profound level to this extraordinary global institution.
There is that sense there [in which geography matters], but I don’t think a responsible cardinal, and I think they were all taking that responsibility incredibly seriously, would have been governed purely by nationality. I really don’t.
<strong>At the diplomatic, state level, do you think his nationality could change how the world reacts to him, especially in the era of Donald Trump and the way the latter is shaking things up on the global stage?</strong>
I don’t think it’s the nationality that would do that. I think what would change is if he started talking about a different set of issues from the ones that Pope Francis started talking about. As I said to a number of people, when Benedict died, Pope Francis had just continued for instance focusing on climate just as Benedict had done so. If [Pope Leo XIV] changes the focus of the Vatican, then we have to work out how to respond, but I don’t think his nationality affects, or indeed the congregation he belongs to; whether he’s an Augustinian or Jesuit or whether he’s a Franciscan or a Benedictine. In terms of what states do, I don’t think it would have affected us, because what we’re interested in is what the Vatican stands for, and how the Vatican engages on the international stage in support of issues that are of interest to us.
<strong>What kind of issues are you preparing for with the new papacy? </strong>
It’s quite clear that the climate is going to remain an issue of his. It’s quite clear that the movement of people, which I think is beyond just migration, it’s also about trafficking, it’s about conflict, it’s about poverty, it’s about the impact of climate change on that band in Africa that is becoming desert; it’s all of those things that I expect him to have a view on.
I would have thought he’d seen the impact of a lot of those things directly when he was in Peru. I would have thought, He’s Pope, but he’s also human, and he will bring those early experiences with him. So, a conversation about international global financing for development and debt relief or something [like that], you would expect him to continue to engage on that discussion, even if he has a slightly different view from that of Francis.
<strong>Will the diplomatic corps have the opportunity to meet the Pope?</strong>
We understand that [on] Friday, in advance of his inauguration, he is going to invite the diplomatic corps to the Apostolic Palace, and I imagine it will be something like the annual greeting that Pope Francis did in January. Whether he will make the sort of five-page speech like Francis would have done, or whether at this stage it’s too early for him to be talking about policy and whether it’s just a salutation, I don’t know, but I’m expecting to dust off my uniform and go into the Vatican on Friday with all of my colleagues and be lined up in protocol order to shake the hand at least, which I’m really excited about.
<strong>Is there anything in particular you want to say to him?</strong>
I’m sure I’ll think of lots of things I could say, but I’ll forget them all, and something spontaneous will happen, and I will say that. Obviously, I will be shaking his hand as a representative of the King and of my government, so I will express the congratulations of both the King and the Prime Minister and my own, but then beyond that, I don’t know.
<strong>One final question. Your tenure has coincided with several major shifts, in your country and the Vatican – the death of Benedict XVI and Queen Elizabeth, and the papacy and death of Francis and the election of Pope Leo XIV. What is that like for you as a diplomat? Do you feel like you are watching history? </strong>
The thing I love about the job I do, and I imagine it’s quite similar for you as a journalist, is that you don’t ever set out to make history, because that’s usually a bad thing when a journalist or a diplomat makes history, but you are incredibly privileged because you get to witness history. That’s the way I feel about this job. I took Prince Charles to Nelson Mandela’s funeral in his home village in South Africa, not to the state [funeral] in Johannesburg, but in the little village. It was a five-hour extraordinary ceremony. Just the privilege of being at something like that is something you would never forget.
I feel like now that I’ve been incredibly lucky and I’m incredibly grateful to my colleagues for the support they give me in terms of actually delivering what the British government needs me to deliver while I’m standing there going, Wow, this is amazing.
<a href="https://thecatholicherald.com/leo-xiv-the-pontiff-both-left-and-right-can-applaud/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color"><strong><em>RELATED: Leo XIV: the pontiff both left and right can applaud</em></strong></mark></a>
<em>Photo: Pope Leo XIV arrives for an audience with thousands of journalists and media workers at Paul VI Hall in the Vatican, Vatican City, 12 May 2025. The audience with journalists has become a tradition among newly elected popes. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images.)</em>
