page_title: Holy See–United States relations
section_title: 1984–present
hierarchical_section_title: Holy See–United States relations / History / 1984–present
caption_attribution_description: English: President Obama and Pope Francis walk along the Colonnade.
context_page_description: United States–Holy See relations are bilateral relations between the United States and the Holy See. The principal U.S. official is Ambassador Callista Gingrich, who officially started at her position on December 22, 2017. The Holy See is represented by its Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, who assumed office on April 12, 2016. The U.S. Embassy to the Holy See is located in Rome, in the Villa Domiziana. The Nunciature to the United States is located in Washington, D.C., at 3339 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
context_section_description: The United States and the Holy See announced the establishment of diplomatic relations on January 10, 1984.  In sharp contrast to the long record of strong domestic opposition, this time there was very little opposition from Congress, the courts, and Protestant groups.  On March 7, 1984, the Senate confirmed William A. Wilson as the first U.S. ambassador to the Holy See. Ambassador Wilson had been President Reagan's personal envoy to the Pope since 1981. The Holy See named Archbishop Pio Laghi as the first Apostolic Nuncio (equivalent to ambassador) of the Holy See to the U.S. Archbishop Laghi had been Pope John Paul II's apostolic delegate to the Catholic Church in the United States since 1980.  Relations between President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II were close especially because of their shared anti-communism and keen interest in forcing the Soviets out of Poland.
  Also, the two men forged a common bond over having survived assassination attempts just six weeks apart in the spring of 1981.
  Following the September 11 attacks and the beginning of the US war on terrorism from 2001, the Vatican has been critical of the war on terrorism in general, and particularly critical of the US policies in Iraq. On July 10, 2009, President Barack Obama and Pope Benedict XVI met in Rome. A planned relocation of the U.S. embassy to the Holy See to the same location as the U.S. embassy to Italy drew criticism from several former U.S. ambassadors. On March 27, 2014, Obama and Pope Francis met in Rome; this was followed by Pope Francis's 2015 visit to North America in September 2015, where, after visiting Cuba, he came to the U.S., and participated in the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, and also visited Washington, D.C., and New York City.
  In June 2015, the United States and the Holy See concluded their first inter-governmental agreement which aims at curtailing offshore tax evasion through automatic exchange of tax information.
caption: Pope Francis and President Barack Obama at the White House in 2015.
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