Paris holds firm on nomination of gay ambassador to Vatican

Paris will not withdraw the nomination of career diplomat Laurent Stefanini as ambassador to the Holy See, sources at the Élysée Palace and the foreign ministry have said.

The Vatican has yet to confirm Mr Stefanini’s posting three months after his appointment by French president François Hollande, a delay French and Italian media are speculating is because he is openly gay.

Les Echos and Le Journal du Dimanche have written that Mr Stefanini's nomination has not found favour with the Holy See, not so much because of his sexual orientation but because, in the past, he publicly supported same-sex marriage, which was introduced in France in 2013.

Practising Catholic

Mr Stefanini is described as a practising Catholic without children. He served as second in charge of the Vatican embassy from 2001 until 2005.

On his return to Paris, he became head of religious affairs at the foreign ministry, then chief of protocol to Mr Hollande.

Mr Hollande has said privately that Mr Stefanini "is one of our best diplomats and has all the qualities required for the post", the Catholic newspaper La Croix reported.

Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, the archbishop of Paris, has written to Pope Francis urging him to accept Mr Stefanini's nomination.

Almost every report on the affair has quoted the pontiff’s statement that he would not judge gay people: “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?”

Last year’s Vatican Synod on the Family was also marked by bitter divisions after a call from the synod for a more “welcoming” attitude to homosexuals.