Exactly 100 years ago, Britain re-established formal diplomatic relations with the Holy See for the first time since the Reformation. The move benefited both sides It was on 11 December 1914 that the Vatican Secretariat of State announced that it had agreed the accreditation of Sir Henry Howard, KCB, KCMG as “His Majesty’s Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary on a Special Mission to His Holiness the Pope”. By the end of the year, Sir Henry had been duly received in audience by both Pope Benedict XV and his Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Gasparri. This was, by any standards, a remarkable turning point in the history of relations between the British monarchy and the papacy, the last ambassador from London having left Rome in 1558 on the death of Mary I.Th