US Ambassador Douglas Kmiec feels he has no reason to apologise for exercising his constitutional right of religious freedom and writing articles centred around his Catholic beliefs.
“I cannot (and do not) apologise... since our (US) Constitution proudly protects the free exercise of religion – even for ambassadors,” he said when asked for a reaction to a critical report released by the US State Department’s Inspector General.
The report criticised Prof. Kmiec, a self-confessed “cradle Catholic”, for spending too much time writing about religious topics, such as abortion, to the detriment of American diplomacy.
The report also suggested he refocus his attention on mission priorities.
“I must say I am troubled and saddened that a handful of individuals within my department in Washington seem to manifest a hostility to expressions of faith and efforts to promote better interfaith understanding as a means of advancing the President’s own goal of greater mutual respect arising from enhanced mutual understanding. I am sorry they feel this way,” he said.
Kmiec’s prayers
The report said that, based on a belief that Prof. Kmiec was given a special mandate to promote President Barack Obama’s interfaith initiatives, he devoted considerable time writing articles for publication in the US and in Malta and to presenting his views on subjects outside the bilateral portfolio.
But Prof. Kmiec replied: “It is an especially odd criticism since my friendship with the President began out of his discernment that too much of politics had been used to divide us, sometimes by excluding people of faith.”
Prof. Kmiec said he had written to his staff to express profound disappointment that personal criticism of him was included in a generally helpful assessment of embassy operations.
While he was grateful to receive suggestions for improvement through the report, the criticism levelled in his direction was neither accurate nor reflective of the proud history, practice or constitutional structure in which he would always choose to hold the US Department of State, he said.
“The report should not be understood as detracting from the truly excellent work of this embassy, particularly its extraordinary efforts of distinction in the recent weeks to rescue and evacuate our personnel and citizens of many other nations from Tripoli, to ensure the proper enforcement of sanctions and to assist in the deployment of humanitarian assistance,” he said, adding he was privileged to do such work so long as he retained the President’s confidence.
“When I saw him (President Obama) in Washington a few weeks ago, our meeting was brief but he did not convey any personal dissatisfaction. I am greatly admiring of the way in which the President and the Secretary (of State) are prudently meeting the challenge of pulling together the US, the EU and the UN Security Council to address the killing of innocents in Libya,” he said.
He looked forward to continuing to be of help from Malta, Libya’s nearest European neighbour. In a region of some tumult at the moment, Malta was a stable, democratic and uniquely neutral republic with many important contacts in Libya.
“It is not at all surprising to me that the government of Malta has indeed been contacted numerous times in the last weeks by Libyan and officials from other nations for the purpose of exploring possible diplomatic ways to resolve the conflict. For those of us who find prayer indispensable, we will be saying more than a few for the success of those diplomatic efforts,” he said.