Vatican diplomacy is one of the world’s oldest diplomatic services, heading foreign relations of the Catholic church worldwide. The current foreign policy of Vatican diplomacy is directed towards the global South. In this context, the 1.2 million Catholics living in Sri Lanka have a major association with Catholics worldwide. Sri Lanka’s diplomatic relations with the Holy See, the headquarters of the Vatican for the 1.3 billion Catholics spread across the globe, goes beyond 42 years. This significant diplomatic link paved the way for the establishment of Sri Lanka’s strong relations with the Vatican while opening a new page in the country’s foreign policy, bringing it closer to western nations.
 
Landmark events in Sri Lanka’s Vatican diplomacy have been the visits to the island nation by Pope Paul VI in December 1970, Pope John Paul II in January 1995 and Pope Francis in January 2015.
 
Sri Lanka was, on 21 April 2019, shaken by the Easter Sunday suicide bombings that mainly targeted churches while claiming more than 250 lives. Following these events, the visit by the Vatican papal representative proved to be of immeasurable comfort to the shaken Catholic community. Speaking to media during his visit, Cardinal Fernando Filoni   said “I am here first of all to bring you all closer to Pope Francis,” he said. Four months after the bombings, this solidarity was further strengthened by the visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, the head of the Church of England.
 
The Vatican’s diplomacy over the years has been most significant to Sri Lanka, providing a message that goes far beyond the Catholic religious discourse. It brings global recognition, international attention and hope to the small South Asian island nation. It shows the world that Sri Lanka is a place where many religious communities live together, sending a message to the global foreign policy makers.
 
Going down the corridors of the history of the Indian Ocean island nation, Catholics came to Sri Lanka 400 year ago, with the Portuguese in 1505. Since then, the Portuguese, Dutch and the British played a major influential role in strengthening Catholicism and Christianity in Sri Lanka. 
 
This western influence not only saw a deep religious impact, it also saw an educational and political transformation through Western philosophy. With this, the  island nation saw the emergence of a new wave of liberal thinkers and the empowered new cultural awakening saw Catholicism institutionalized at the dawn of independence in 1948 in Sri Lanka.
 
Going beyond culture and religion, the Vatican diplomatic initiative through papal visits puts Sri Lanka on the international business platform, paving the way for tourism, trade and investment. Evidence strongly suggests that when the need arose, the Vatican and the global catholic  community always stood for the welfare of  all Sri Lankans. The Catholic Relief Services work in Sri Lanka has focused on rebuilding lives after natural disasters and has helped those affected by conflict.
 
Following the 2004 tsunami, Catholic relief and development agencies, such as Caritas Sri Lanka, have assisted almost 60,000 people and  constructed over 9,000 temporary shelters, 8,000 new homes, one hospital, rebuilt 31 schools for a total of 1,600 students, without any considerations of caste or creed.
 
Though one of the world’s smallest sovereign states, the Holy See has a wide diplomatic network and global outreach with 183 states. Sri Lanka, being an Indian Ocean island nation strategically located at the international maritime crossroads, has significant diplomatic influence in the West due its Christian community, which is part of the wider global community.
 
Hence this new foreign policy shift can tap into economic and trade benefits with stronger security guarantees for the country from the West.  Creative thinking is  required to re-examine the bonds between the Sri Lankan state, the church and how  these ethno-religious connections can be  utilized  to benefit the island nation’s foreign policy by tapping into the Vatican foreign policy  agenda. Reframing  these foreign policy goals to enhance  these  century-old  bonds between the Vatican  and  Colombo  requires  a strong  political  commitment  and  farsighted  vision to take the nation through the next stages of nation building.
 
(Fernando is a Doctoral Fellow at Jindal School of International Affairs, India and Nizar is a foreign policy analyst in Sri Lanka. They can be contacted at srimal2003@gmail.com)