Kenneth Francis Hackett (born January 27, 1947) served as the

United States Ambassador to the Holy See The ambassador of the United States to the Holy See is the official representative of the United States of America to the Holy See, the leadership of the Catholic Church. The official representation began with the formal opening of diplomatic re ...

from August 2013 until January 2017. He was previously president of

Catholic Relief Services Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. Founded in 1943 by the Bishops of the United States, the agency provides assistance to 130 million people in more than 110 ...

(CRS). Hackett attended Boston College, graduating in 1968. He then joined the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F ...

and served in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. Afterwards, he joined

(CRS), serving in Africa and Asia. He was named the president of CRS in 1993, retiring in 2011. He was nominated to the post as Ambassador by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

in June 2013 and confirmed by the Senate on August 1, 2013. He presented his Letters of Credence to

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

on October 21, 2013. In March 2016, he was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Pius IX The Order of Pope Pius IX ( it, Ordine di Pio IX), also referred as the Pian Order ( it, Ordine Piano), is a papal order of knighthood originally founded by Pope Pius IV in 1560. Currently, it is the highest honor conferred by the Holy See (bein ...

, the highest Papal Award given to lay men and women. He took leave as Ambassador to the Holy See on 16 January 2017.

Awards and honors

Hackett received nineteen honorary doctorates from American Catholic universities. The

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

awarded him the

Laetare Medal The Laetare Medal is an annual award given by the University of Notre Dame in recognition of outstanding service to the Catholic Church and society. The award is given to an American Catholic or group of Catholics "whose genius has ennobled the a ...

in 2012. In 2005, he was appointed to the Board of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, where he served until 2009. * Ordine di San Gregorio Magno

Knight Commander of the Equestrian Order of St Gregory the Great,

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

(2004) *

Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Pope Pius IX The Order of Pope Pius IX ( it, Ordine di Pio IX), also referred as the Pian Order ( it, Ordine Piano), is a papal order of knighthood originally founded by Pope Pius IV in 1560. Currently, it is the highest honor conferred by the Holy See (being ...

(March 2016)

References

External links

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"President" trump-will-drop-campaign-rhetoric-64729/ Interview
Living people 1947 births Ambassadors of the United States to the Holy See American Roman Catholics Boston College alumni Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Pope Pius IX Laetare Medal recipients Peace Corps volunteers 21st-century American diplomats {{US-diplomat-stub