Harvard Law School Professor Mary Ann Glendon’s nomination to become the new U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See was confirmed by the Senate late last month, after President Bush announced the nomination on November 5.
The confirmation came after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on the nomination on the morning of the 19th. The full Senate approved dozens of nominations and military promotions in its next-to-last action right before adjourning that evening.
Glendon will succeed Francis Rooney, who has held the post since 2005. A date for her succession has not been set.
Glendon has held top posts in the Vatican since 1994 when she was appointed to the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences by Pope John Paul II to promote the study of the social sciences. In 2004, Glendon was named president of the Academy. She also headed the 22-member delegation of the Holy See to the international 1995 Beijing Conference on Women sponsored by the United Nations.