Francis Campbell, is a native of Rathfriland, County Down. In 2005 he made history by becoming the first Catholic to be appointed Ambassador to the Vatican. At just thirty-five he was the youngest of all Britain’s ambassadors.

Earlier this year, the BBC televised a 3-part documentary entitled Our Man in the Vatican which focused on a year in the life of Ambassador Campbell. Francis played a central role in the recent visit of Pope Benedict to Britain. Before pursuing a diplomatic career, he studied for the priesthood at St Malachy’s College, Belfast, and Queen’s University, Belfast. He then studied at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. With a special interest in the relationship between faith and culture and inter-faith relations, Francis has won widespread respect for his thoughtful and reflective insights. He studied Political Science and Scholastic Philosophy at Queen’s University and European Integration at the Catholic University of Leuven and International Relations at the University of Pennsylvania. Before his appointment as Ambassador to the Holy See, Francis was Private Secretary and Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Tony Blair from 1998 - 2001. He was First Secretary at the British Embassy in Rome from 2001 – 2003. Early in his diplomatic career he held postings to the European Enlargement Unit of the Foreign Office and was on the European Commission Delegation to New York during the British Presidency of the European Union.

He is soon to take up his new post as Deputy High Commissioner to Pakistan.