Victor Gaetan's latest article in Foreign Affairs:
"The Not-So-Quiet American: Pope Leo Takes the Vatican Where Francis Could Not," May 19, 2026
As featured in: Los Angeles Review of Books, Harvard Diplo, La Civilta Cattolica, Reuters, Religion News Service, Politico Europe, Washington Post, The Jerusalem Post, Irish Catholic [IR], Aleteia, America magazine, La Croix Int'l, National Catholic Register, i.Media, Where Peter Is, Catholic News Service, Boston Pilot, National Catholic Reporter, Catholic World Report, and Kirkus Reviews...
God's Diplomats:
Pope Francis, Vatican Diplomacy, and
America's Armageddon
Victor Gaetan
Using inside sources, maps, and extensive field reporting about the secretive, high-stakes world of international diplomacy, Victor Gaetan takes readers to the Holy See to explain Pope Francis' diplomacy, show why it works, and to offer readers a startling contrast with recent U.S. international decisions, especially its militarized approach to foreign policy. The historical analysis and explanation of Vatican diplomacy is as true today, under Pope Leo, as it was when Pope Francis led the Catholic Church (March 2013 - April 2025).
About the Author
Victor is senior international correspondent for the National Catholic Register and a contributor to Foreign Affairs magazine and America. He is an award-winning journalist who has covered Vatican diplomacy on four continents over the past 25 years. He and his family reside in Washington, D.C.
Victor Gaetan chats with Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Pope Leo’s right-hand man for foreign policy, as he was for Pope Francis.
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Praise
I expect God’s Diplomats will become a standard reference for scholars of the role of religion in international affairs, and benefit anyone who wishes to understand the impact of Vatican diplomacy, and its surprising ability to alter the views of world leaders as diverse as Vladimir Putin, George W. Bush, and Bashar al-Assad.
Nicolai N. Petro, Professor of Political Science
University of Rhode Island
I'm so impressed by the meticulousness of the research, the breathtaking pace at which Victor Gaetan guides the reader in God's Diplomats through one of the most complex labyrinths on earth (which constantly made me feel I was reading a great spy novel), and the deep faith reflected in his careful historical analysis.
Carlos Eire, Professor of History & Religious Studies
Yale University
author of Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy
winner of the 2003 National Book Award