On the 6th of July, the Assistant Ambassador and person in charge of the Political Office of the German Embassy to the Holy See, Dr. Bernhard Schlagheck, invited the Vice-Prior General, Fr. Christian Körner, O.Carm., to a working lunch in order to hear about the presence of the Carmelite Order in the world and about the central administration of the Order in Rome.

On the 11th of July Fr. John Keating, O.Carm., Councilor General for Europe was invited by the Ambassador of Austria to the Holy See, Dr. Alfons M. Kloss and his wife, together with the Rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University, the Directory of the Centre for Laity (Foyer Unitas) and a member of the Anglican community in Rome to a meeting in the Austrian Embassy.

Finally, on the 10th of August, the new Ambassador of Spain to the Holy See, Doña María Jesús F. López-Palop paid a visit to the Carmelite Curia. After a long conversation in private with the Prior General Fr. Fernando Millán Romeral, O.Carm., the Ambassador was welcomed by the other members of the Curia with whom she shared her first impressions of Rome and her projects for the cultural activities of the Embassy. The Prior of the community, Fr. Christian Körner, O.Carm., told her about the historical origin of the complex around the Curia (the Titulus and the Domus Ecclesiae in the time of the Roman Empire, the medieval basilica of S. Martino ai Monti and the new buildings, etc.) The whole visit took place in a very relaxed and cordial atmosphere and the Ambassador promised that it would not be her last visit to the Curia.

photo: the new Ambassador of Spain to the Holy See, Doña María Jesús F. López-Palop paid a visit to the Carmelite Curia.