Italian Embassy in Kabul
The Italian embassy in Kabul is Italy's diplomatic mission in Afghanistan .
history
A first Italian embassy in Kabul was opened in 1922. Because the Kingdom of Italy was the first Western country after the United Kingdom to recognize the independence of Afghanistan, the Afghan-Italian Convention on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations of 1921 made it the only state to date to have one on the premises of its diplomatic mission to maintain a Catholic mission that is allowed to provide pastoral care to foreign Catholics in Afghanistan. A first Italian priest who Barnabites - Father , historian and linguist Egidio Caspani, was sent late 1932 to Kabul. Pope Pius XI personally had campaigned for Caspani's posting to Kabul, where the Holy See has no apostolic nunciature until today (as of 2020) due to a lack of diplomatic relations .
The current Italian embassy complex on Great Massoud Road opened in 1974. A Roman Catholic chapel was built and consecrated on the property in 1960 . This was followed by the office building and the ambassador's residence. These two two-story, earthquake-proof buildings were built in exposed concrete and can be architecturally assigned to contemporary brutalism , but with their simple geometric shapes they blend in well with the surrounding gardens. In the ambassador's residence, the floors are made of Afghan marble, the design of the office is simpler and more functional.
In the early 1990s, the embassy was badly damaged during the civil war . From January 1993 to November 2001 it was closed due to the war. Between 2004 and 2007, the war damage was repaired and the facilities were modernized. In 2017, due to the tense security situation, further securing and fortification work was carried out, with some buildings formerly located outside being integrated into the embassy complex.
In 2002 Pope John Paul II created the Missio sui iuris Afghanistaniensis and appointed the Barnabite order priest at the Italian embassy ex officio to head this Catholic mission and thus to become the Apostolic Superior in Afghanistan. Despite several changes in the political system in Afghanistan and corresponding changes in rulers, the activity of the Catholic mission in accordance with the treaty was never politically questioned.
Others
A restored IMAM Ro.37 aircraft is on display in the embassy garden . In 1937 Afghanistan had ordered 16 aircraft of this Italian type for its air force and operated until the mid-1950s. In 2006 the military attaché of the Italian embassy discovered the remains of these aircraft near Kabul. With Afghan approval, one of these wrecks was brought to the embassy and (not exactly true to the original) restored.
The embassy houses a branch of the AICS Development Cooperation Agency
See also
Web links
- Italian Embassy Kabul (Italian / English / Dari-Persian)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The message on their history and the Catholic mission (English)
- ↑ The embassy about your place of work (English)
- ↑ Missio sui iuris Afghanistaniensis on catholic-hierarchy.org
- ↑ Interview with the Apostolic Superior Giovanni Scalese on firstthings.com, October 27, 2017 (English)
- ↑ Information about the IMAM Ro.37 in the Italian embassy (English)
- ↑ Internet presence of the AICS branch in Kabul (English)