WORLD NEWS JUNE 13, 2019 / 9:56 AM / UPDATED 6 HOURS AGO

After scandals, Pope orders his diplomats to toe the line

Philip Pullella
3 MIN READ

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Thursday told his ambassadors around the world, some of whom have been involved in sexual and financial scandals, to live humble, exemplary lives and be closer to the poor than to the elite.

In a document handed to more than 100 ambassadors in Rome for meetings with top Vatican officials, Francis told the envoys that they had to “live for the things of God and not for those of the world”.

The Vatican is a sovereign state as well as the headquarters of the 1.3-billion-member Roman Catholic Church, and it has diplomatic relations with more than 180 countries. Its ambassadors, known as nuncios, are often the highest ranking and most visible diplomats in a given country.

In recent years, some nuncios or other Vatican diplomats have been mired in scandal.

The nuncio in France, Archbishop Luigi Ventura, is under investigation in Paris over accusations of sexual molestation.

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