Apostolic nuncio to Great Britain Miguel Maury Buendía has published a book reflecting on his life journey from a Madrid parish priest to a Vatican diplomat. Speaking in an interview on the radio program La Linterna de la Iglesia with Ana Palacios de Elías, the diplomat reviewed a career that brought him into direct contact with King Charles III and placed him in global conflict zones. His new book, titled Fe, vida y diplomacia, presents a compendium of 111 questions answered to Romanian diplomat Diana Turconi.
Maury Buendía originally dreamed of serving in a Madrid parish, but his career followed a very different path. He was ordained as a priest in 1980, spending his initial years assigned to the parish of Santísima Trinidad in Collado Villalba. The area was undergoing a major demographic explosion at the time. He recalled those four years as a very happy period in a very lively parish. The town expanded from 10,000 weekday inhabitants to 100,000 residents during the summer months, requiring the parish team to celebrate up to 23 masses each weekend.
His ministry took a sharp turn when Cardinal Suquía proposed that he travel to Rome to study at the diplomatic academy of the Holy See. Although Maury Buendía admitted at the time that he did not speak any foreign languages, Cardinal Suquía told him that languages could be learned. After finishing his diplomatic studies in Rome, Maury Buendía confessed to the cardinal that while he was content, he had been happy working in the parish. Cardinal Suquía responded that someone had to do diplomatic work and told him that if he could do it, he should go ahead.
Diplomatic service and role of a papal nuncio
That conversation marked the beginning of a diplomatic career spanning nearly four decades around the world. As Maury Buendía explained, a papal nuncio serves as an ambassador for the Pope, but carries out a role distinct from traditional diplomacy. He described his work as a peace mission with two main functions: maintaining formal relations with state authorities and serving the local Church by linking dioceses with the Roman Curia.
His first diplomatic mission began at the age of 31 in Rwanda, a country known at the time as the Switzerland of Africa. While stationed there, he witnessed the onset of the genocide massacres. After one month, church authorities transferred him to neighboring Uganda, where he continued to monitor the evolving conflict. He described the transfer as an odyssey, recalling that he traveled on an airplane filled with Rwandan Tutsi guerrillas heading to Burundi.
Over nearly 40 years of diplomatic work, Maury Buendía served in numerous nations across several continents, including Morocco, Nicaragua, Egypt, Slovenia, Kazakhstan, and Romania. Despite the heavy duties of international diplomacy, he stated that he never lost his pastoral impetus. Throughout his career, he maintained direct work with local populations in parish settings and schools.
Literary career and success in Slovenia
In addition to his diplomatic work, Maury Buendía has worked as a writer. In 2002, while posted in Slovenia, he published a historical novel titled El cáliz de Carlos V under the pen name Miguel de Bulnes. Years later, the book was translated into Slovenian and unexpected success followed. The novel became selected reading material across many schools in Slovenia, earning wide popularity among local students.
