New British Ambassador to Holy See honoured to work with Catholic Church

By Vatican News staff writer

Pope Francis on Saturday morning received in audience Christopher John Trott, the new British Ambassador to the Holy See.

A statement released by the British Embassy to the Holy See stated that following the audience, Ambassador Trott said: “I was honoured to present my Credentials to His Holiness Pope Francis this morning. Today marks a highlight of my diplomatic career and I look forward to building further on the excellent relations between the United Kingdom and the Holy See during my ambassadorial mandate”.

The Ambassador went on to note that “Throughout his Pontificate, Pope Francis has been working tirelessly on the global issues of our time,” and said it will be a great privilege for him to “work together with the Holy See and the Catholic networks to make a difference to the issues which concern us, from poverty to climate change, conflict prevention, international development, and freedom of religion and belief.”

A short biography

Prior to taking up his role as British Ambassador to the Holy See in September 2021, Ambassador Trott has been a British diplomat since 1991.

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 DFID designed to address stabilisation post-conflict.