[…] U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, Francis Rooney welcomed Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of the Archdiocese of Washington, DC; Mr. Jim Towey, Director of the White House Office for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives; and Dr. Scott Appleby, John M. Regan, Jr. Director of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies to the Centro di Studi Americani for a conference on the 40th anniversary the Vatican document Dignitatis Humanae on the right of the individual and communities to social and civil freedom in religious matters.

A moving tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr., his life and the civil and human rights movement he led, was held on January 16, 2006 and sponsored by the United States Embassy to the Holy See and the United States Embassy to Italy. Complete with music and narration, the event, held at Rome’s Teatro Orione, marked the twentieth anniversary of the celebration of the federal Martin Luther King Day holiday.

[…] U.S. Ambassadors Tony Hall, Francis Rooney and Ronald Spogli hosted an ususual holiday event to spotlight the cause of the world's poor . At the sumptuous Villa Taverna, guests began the evening as they might have suspected - with a receiving line and a glass of prosecco - unaware of how the evening would unfold…