Barack Obama taps another Hispanic, this time as ambassador to the Vatican
May 31, 2009 at 8:16 am by Peter Schweitzer
Vatican Ambassador nominee Miguel Diaz
By Peter Schweitzer
PoHo contributor
President Obama must’ve been in the mood for breaking new ground in Presidential appointments this week. First, he chooses a Latina, Sonia Sotomayor, for the Supreme Court, and then taps another Hispanic as his ambassador to the Vatican.
Miguel Diaz is a 45-year-old theologian who had served as a consultant to Obama’s presidential campaign. It’s an interesting appointment in that these appointments are usually given to politicians or those who contributed significantly to a president campaign. I can’t recall another such appointment given to a theologian. It’s a smart political appointment that demonstrates his desire to reach out to Catholics and Hispanics. It’s shrewd in that it’s an apolitical appointment. Diaz is a theologian, an academic who has not played any significant role in politics.
As a Catholic theologian, Diaz publicly supported Kathleen Sebelius, another Catholic whom Obama tapped as Health and Human Services Secretary.
