Diplomacy at the Vatican

An Official Visit to the Apostolic Palace and the Holy See

The Garibay Institute’s visit to the Vatican marked a significant milestone in our ongoing effort to research and develop frontier models and systems for diplomacy. Our governing hypothesis is straightforward in articulation, yet it imposes substantial theoretical and practical requirements: diplomacy is human systems. It is not confined to treaties, speeches, or state-to-state signaling. It is the management of interconnected relationships that behave like a system, with feedback loops, incentives, norms, emotions, and credibility.

I wish to express my profound gratitude to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, to His Eminence Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, and to Colonel Christoph Graf, Commander of the Pontifical Swiss Guard, for their exceptional generosity of time and the graciousness with which they received us. In granting us rare access to artistic and sacred spaces that embody centuries of institutional memory, including a private visit to the Sistine Chapel and the Cappella Paolina, the Pope’s intimate chapel of worship within the Apostolic Palace, the Holy See deepened our reverence for the Vatican’s enduring diplomatic tradition and spiritual leadership across more than two millennia.

I am equally indebted to His Holiness Mar Awa III, Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, for his invaluable counsel and discerning guidance. I also extend my sincere appreciation to the Garibay Institute’s President Ron Gunnell, Esther Porto, John McCaffrey, and HRH Prince Dani Badawi for their inspiring leadership and scholarly support, which meaningfully strengthened the Institute’s approach to this research.

What I carry forward is a practical lesson with theoretical weight: trust functions as infrastructure. When trust rises, coordination becomes more feasible and less costly. When trust erodes, everything becomes harder, slower, and more fragile.