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11 JOURNAL
In addition to its place at the center of Roman Catholicism, the Vatican Embassy is at the crossroads of critical international di- plomacy and peacemaking, where Ambassador Donnelly con- tinues to serve our nation with great distinction. Ambassador
Donnelly’s abridged remarks follow.
I laughed when the American College of Trial Lawyers asked would I like to come to their meeting. I said, “This is the only way I’ll ever get to go to their meeting.” But it is great to wel- come you to Rome, the Eternal City. And the best part is when Americans and friends come here. We’re from Indiana and I will tell you, one of the things that’s been very, very interesting is we had no idea the amount of friends we had all over the country who have wanted to visit. I have some security and they go, “Are we going to the airport to pick up your friends again today?” And it’s like we have our own parking spot at this point.
HON. JOSEPH DONNELLY
AMBASSADOR TO THE HOLY SEE
JOE DONNELLY, THE GRANDSON OF IRISH IMMIGRANTS, ARRIVED AT NOTRE DAME UNIVERSITY IN THE FALL OF 1973. HE STAYED ON FOR LAW SCHOOL AND MET HIS WIFE JILL, WHO WAS AMONG THE FIRST WOMEN ADMITTED TO NOTRE DAME. JOE DONNEL- LY STAYED IN SOUTH BEND, WHERE HE PRACTICED LAW FOR FIFTEEN YEARS BEFORE STARTING A SMALL BUSINESS. WHILE RAISING FOUR CHILDREN WITH JILL, HIS POLITICAL CAREER BEGAN WITH SERVICE ON THE STATE ELECTION COMMISSION AND AS A MEMBER OF A LOCAL SCHOOL BOARD IN MISHAWAKA, INDIANA. FIRST ELECTED TO CONGRESS FROM INDIANA’S SEC- OND DISTRICT IN 2006, REPRESENTATIVE DONNELLY WORKED AS A MEMBER OF THE VETERAN’S AFFAIRS COMMITTEE TO RE- FORM HEALTH BENEFITS FOR FORMER SERVICE MEMBERS. HE WAS A MODERATE DEMOCRAT FROM A CONSERVATIVE STATE. IN 2012, JOE DONNELLY WAS ELECTED TO THE SENATE, WHERE HE CONTINUED TO FOCUS HIS LEGISLATIVE WORK ON VETERANS AND THE ARMED SERVICES, AS WELL AS AGRICULTURE AND THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING. AFTER HIS SERVICE IN THE SENATE, JOE RETURNED TO THE PRACTICE OF LAW UNTIL HE WAS CALLED BY PRESIDENT BIDEN IN 2021 TO SERVE AS THE AMBASSADOR OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE HOLY SEE.