WHEREAS, William A. Wilson recently resigned his positions as United States ambassador to the Holy See; and
WHEREAS, Federal district and appellate courts have refused to consider the question of the constitutionality of an embassy to the Holy See on the grounds that church groups, church officials, and taxpayers lack standing to raise this question and that the President has sole power to conduct foreign affairs; and
WHEREAS, It is our understanding that the Holy See is an ecclesiastical entity, not a civil state;
Be it therefore RESOLVED, That we, messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting June 10-12, 1986, express our abiding and unchanging opposition to the continuance of a United States ambassador to the Holy See of the Roman Catholic Church; call on President Ronald W. Reagan not to nominate anyone to fill such post in the future; call on members of the United States Senate to refuse to consent to the appointment of another ambassador to the Holy See if the President should nominate; urge members of Southern Baptist churches to express to appropriate Federal officials their opposition to an embassy to the Holy See; and urge the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs to forward copies of this resolution to the President and appropriate members of the United States Senate.