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ROME – In 2011, the last time an Israeli Foreign Minister came calling in the Vatican, there was hope the encounter might lend momentum toward an agreement to stabilize the tax and fiscal status of Church-owned properties in the Holy Land, as an addendum to the 1993 Fundamental Agreement launching diplomatic relations between the two states.

Cardinal-elect Agostino Marchetto has worn many hats during decades of service to the Church and to the Holy See. In an interview with Vatican Radio, he expresses his view that Pope Francis has chosen to give him the red hat thanks, above all, to years of service at the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples.

I sat down with Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich at the Jesuit Curia in Rome on the afternoon of June 30. The following article, based on that conversation, is the second part of that interview. The first part can be found here.

In a statement at the 53rd Regular Session of the Human Rights Council on the recurrent desecration of the Quran in some countries, Vatican representative Monsignor David Putzer reaffirms that freedom of expression must never be used as an excuse to despise others.