Ambassador to the Holy See and Dame of the Order
Ambassador Albertini with her family in the company of Pope Francis
Maria Alessandra Albertini, member of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, is Ambassador of the Republic of San Marino to the Holy See. She agreed to reflect on her mission for readers of the Grand Magisterium's website.
“Our state is geographically small, but rich in an extraordinary heritage of values,” says Maria Alessandra Albertini, Ambassador of the Republic of San Marino to the Holy See. The ambassador believes in particular that her membership of the Order in service to the populations of the Holy Land is an expression of the great opening of San Marino to spiritual and human causes. As a Dame of the Order, she is inspired by “the example of the first women who followed Jesus, witnessing the empty tomb and the power of the resurrection.”
Although the Order has only been present in this small territory since 2004, it is developing harmoniously by sharing the generous ideals of “the oldest Republic in the world” founded in the Diocletian era, around the year 300, by a group of persecuted Christians. These early Christians from Dalmatia had found shelter on Mount Titan, not far from Rimini, south of Ravenna. The leader of their community, a deacon named Marinus, gave his name to the Republic of San Marino, fiercely independent from the very first days of its existence. “I leave you free from other men,” were the last words of Marinus, who died in 366, leaving his legacy and a program.
“We continue to work with this spirit to promote freedom, everywhere in the world, especially the freedom of worship, through the international organizations to which we belong,” says the ambassador. This was what she remarked upon to Pope Francis when presenting her credentials. “The Holy See is a beacon, especially for those responsible for diplomacy, which encourages us to take care of the most vulnerable in the world,” adds Mrs. Albertini, recounting that a Syrian refugee family has been welcomed in San Marino, thanks to a humanitarian corridor created after the visit of the Holy Father to the island of Lesbos. San Marino also plays an essential mediation role rooted in Christian tradition linked to the history of its founding.
“Our Republic, taking part in important meetings in Europe or the United Nations, offers its voice – which weighs as much as that of the great states – to all initiatives in favor of global solidarity based on respect for the inalienable rights of all human beings”.
F.V.
(May 2017)