Last Tuesday, May 14, Rev. Monsignor Giuseppe De Andrea, the Apostolic Nucio to Kuwait, Bahrain, and now Yemen submitted his credentials to President Saleh to become the first ambassador of the Holy See, i.e., representative of the Pope John II to Yemen.
Born in 1930 in Torino, Italy, the monsignor ordained a priest of the Catholic Church on 21 June 1953. He is now looking forward for establishing an Embassy for the Holy See in Yemen. During his stay in Sanaa, Yemen Times editor-in-chief Walid al Saqqaf spoke with him. Following are excerpts from their conversation.

YT: It is a pleasure to have you here in Yemen. What are your impressions as the first Ambassador of the Holy See in Yemen?
MSGR. DE ANDREA: It is my pleasure and honor to be the first official ambassador of the Holy See in the Republic of Yemen. Yemen established relations with the Holy See in 1999. At the beginning of 2000, I was sent to the Arabian Peninsula to establish a permanent residency in the Peninsula.
Kuwait had seniority as we have established relations with the Holy See in 1968, but the representation extended to Bahrain and Yemen as well. I came to Yemen four times in the past. But this specific visit is a nobility for me as it will signal the setting up of an official entity representing the Holy See.
As for my impressions about Yemen, I can tell you that I have witnessed development and progress in the country in many ways. I remember when I came on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Yemeni unification and I had the chance to see the progress, which is moving forward creating one nation and one family and bringing together human resources from all parts of the country.

YT: How many Arab countries have ambassadors of the Holy See?
MSGR. DE ANDREA: We have representatives of the Holy See in most of the Arab and Muslim countries. We have ambassadors in all countries north of the peninsula including Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Turkey. In fact, it may surprise you that we have representatives of all Muslim and Arab countries except four of five. It should be well-understood that our mission is to bring mutual understanding and tolerance among different cultures and religions.

YT: What is the structure of the Vatican’s future presence in Yemen?
MSGR. DE ANDREA: Even though I am a non-resident ambassador at the moment, I do not rule out the possibility of having a resident ambassador. I will come to Yemen several times a year. So far my experience in Yemen was delightful as I touched sincerity, hospitality, and kindness from the Yemeni people in all levels.
I would particularly like to express my gratitude to H.E. President Saleh for his gracious and honest way in which he received us today. He conveyed a message of appreciation to the Pope concerning his humane moves to bring peace and harmony in the world.
We should not be compared to other embassies who sign contracts, create strategies, have long-term cooperation agreements, etc. We are much simpler than that, as our duty lies in humane issues that relate to human lives, peace, dignity, human rights, etc.

YT: Critics say that the Holy See, despite is power, did not act enough to help the Palestinians who were besieged in the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem - birthplace of Jesus and David - which is a holy place for millions of Christians. What is your comment on that?
MSGR. DE ANDREA: Even the President mentioned this issue this morning. There seems to be a conflict between Muslims and Jews in the area. Both have the right to live with each other in peace within properly defined borders. This has been disrupted by violence when one or the other or both make it worse for peace. We insist that both sides, while they have the right to live in peace, also have the duty of abiding by international law.
In the past we did have some success in resolving certain issues, but in others we did not. But the failures tempt to be more evident and this is why our failed efforts in concerning the Church of Nativity were pointed out clearly.
If you want to analyze the case however, we will conclude that entrance of men carrying weapons into a church, a mosque, or any holy place immediately deprives the one who enters with those weapons from the right for protection. The defenseless are the ones who should be protected in such places. Even though this has not been defined by law, yet that should have been observed.
There is a need to confess however that there were many civilians, who sought protection in the Church of Nativity, but the conditions were very difficult and the siege made things even more difficult to resolve. While looking back to see how such situations could be resolved in a better way, we still feel relieved that the siege is now over.

YT: There could possibly be certain reactions by some groups claiming that your aim may be to Christianize Yemeni Muslims. How could you respond to such claims?
MSGR. DE ANDREA: Firstly, my mission here is a sign and our esteem and respect to the Yemeni people. Our representation in any country in the world indicates our respect to that country and what it stands for. Secondly, part of my duty is to ensure that Christians who are residents in this country are protected, but I have no reason to think that they are not. There is no action to undertake as long as we develop and extend a friendly dialogue between both sides.
Our people: tourists, diplomats, workers, and ordinary people all have the right to be present here in the country even if they are of a different faith. We have conveyed this to the government, but we also would like to emphasize that we never urge, or even request anyone to come to the church unless they chose for themselves. This has always been our position, which is of enabling everyone to practice his or her faith freely.

YT: You may recall the unfortunate murder of one of the two Mother Teresa Sisters in Hodeidah a few years ago. How do you view this act, and is it your duty to make sure they are secure?
MSGR. DE ANDREA: Before I answer this question, I would like to point out that the first Christians started as a persecuted group. This is unlike Islam, which grew very quickly. Christians were chased around in Palestine by the Roman empire and by others and this continued for centuries. This is not to say that we are accustomed to it, but we are not surprised by when this happened.
The murder of the two sisters in Hodeidah, sad as it was, cannot be attributed to the country. This was the action of one person, who may have been inspired by others. We still do not know who did it, but when the two sisters were laid to rest, others came to take over. We realized that there were people being served by those sisters, so we sent others to serve them.
I know that some people think that through violence they could win a point, but I am convinced of the opposite: that violence generates violence no matter where it comes from. But this comes even more devilish when it is done in the name of God. How can anyone be violent towards a brother or a sister claiming God ordered him to do so?

YT: In Islamic Sharia, which is the basis of Yemeni laws, a convert from Islam to another religion is an infidel who is to be killed. This has happened to a number of Somalis in the past, and it may occur again. What is your opinion on this?
MSGR. DE ANDREA: We believe firmly and we have stated this solidly in the Vatican Council of 30 years ago that the freedom of the individual to choose his religion is sacred. There should be no law passed to prosecute someone for changing his faith. We certainly feel sorry when we lose Christians to another religion, and at the same time, we feel delighted to receive more Christians, but we respect this person’s decision.
Even if we think this is wrong as an act, it is only they who are responsible for it. Hence, they should never be persecuted for that. We would like this to apply to everybody. The conversion from one faith to the other, whether I like it or not, should stay as a right to be respected by all.

YT: But how can you resolve this issue if it is already in Islamic Sharia, and could be applied any time in Yemen and in some other Muslim countries?
MSGR. DE ANDREA: I have heard of certain cases that this has been applied. I do not know how to solve this issue, but I need to tell the people involved that as much as I respect their own convictions, they should respect our convictions, not deal with them with punishment or violence. We do not have a certain strategy to bring awareness to this issue, or to stop it from occurring in Yemen. But I think that the people themselves will see with their own reason, as unpleasant as it may be.
As I said before, when a person leaves a faith and joins another it may wound those who love him and want him to stay in his original faith. But that never means that we should punish him. This is like one family who may go through debates and discussions, but you should never break the family apart because of that. You may not be as friendly as before in inviting him to dinner every week. But you still should not go and poison that person because he left your faith.

YT: You said that we should not compare you to other embassies. But what are your activities concerning Yemen?
MSGR. DE ANDREA: Our only activity that we hope to continue is that of the Mother Teresa Sisters. We are pleased that their activities have been going on for many years. We have seen that Yemenis appreciate their work for the sake of the people, and wish that to continue and strengthen if possible. We also would like to continue ministering the Catholics who are here to work, to visit, and attend to other issues. We are here to offer them a place to worship, to meet, and to carry their religious activities smoothly. There is no other activity that we will be carrying out soon.

YT: Do you have a plan or a desire to build a church in Sana’a for the Christians in Sana’a?
MSGR. DE ANDREA: Yes, we think so. But it is not a church that we are envisioning, but rather a center where Catholics can practice their faith. When you hear of a church, you immediately think of belfries and towers, etc. but we don’t need all that. The Yemeni authorities have looked on this favorably, and in principle this is possible.

YT: What about your memories and properties including churches and buildings you were handling before the 1963 revolution in the south?
MSGR. DE ANDREA: We have many pleasant memories in the southern part of the country, because in Aden at one time there was a very strong Christian presence before we were expelled. In Aden we had two girls schools and two boys schools. All four schools were staffed with excellent teachers, mostly Europeans at that time. But even though we lost them then, we see that they are currently still being used by Yemeni students. For that reason, even though technically we still own them, we are not pushing to have them back as long as they are used for the good of the people.
Also, we are here to save and maintain buildings including one large church which used to be a cathedral. We also own another piece of property. Another smaller church was also recently given back to us, and we are grateful for that. The return of many other properties to us is still being discussed with the authorities, but while we know that there are a lot of properties that have been lost in Aden, we still believe that some could be regained. Eventually that will not be the main issue.

YT: We are celebrating the 12th anniversary of the May 22 unification of former north and south Yemen this week. Any comments on this occasion?
MSGR. DE ANDREA: Unification in general is a noble thing. Unification of Yemen did not affect the freedom of Christians living in the southern part of Yemen. In fact, the hard time for us in Aden was after 1963’s revolution during the strong and strict communist regime. However, even though the exact number of Catholics in Aden is not well known, it is still very small compared to what was there before the 1963 revolution. I suppose that the number may not even rise to 100.

YT: How many staffers do you have in Yemen, and in what areas are they in?
MSGR. DE ANDREA: We have sisters of Mother Teresa in Sana’a, Aden, Taiz, and Hodeidah. According to the condition placed by Mother Teresa, wherever there are sisters, there should always be a priest. This was accepted by the government because the priest was necessary for the spiritual care. So this is why we have priests along them as well.
Over 150 years ago, the first priests that came to Yemen came from Ethiopia. Before they were established in Aden, they established themselves in Jeddah. In fact it’s under discussion to reopen one of our buildings in Aden, a church built in 1854. It’s used occasionally but also needs a lot of repair.

YT: Any further comments or messages you want to convey to our readers before you leave to Kuwait?
MSGR. DE ANDREA: I only wish the country continued peace, growth, and prosperity. I hope every family and every child here will have happiness, education, healthcare, and everything the government has to give. We have neither silver nor gold to offer. But the thing we offer is peace.
We come with an idea of eternity and peace based on the dignity of the human being, no matter what tribe or race or religion. We believe that every human being is unique and is loved by God. Because of that, this human being has rights that no one can take away. Those rights are not granted by the state, but they are there by human nature. The state should recognize those human rights.