The world’s first woman ambassador to the Vatican came from East Africa over 50 years ago, courtesy of the Entebbe State House.
In 1975, Idi Amin, the President of Uganda, broke the unwritten 900-year-old men-only rule of the Papal diplomacy when he appointed the then 27-year-old Bernadette Olowo as the world’s first female diplomat to the Vatican.
Idi Amin’s move caught everyone by surprise, and there was great doubt whether Pope Paul VI could also break the 900-year-old Rome tradition by approving the appointment of Ms Olowo.
Some even concluded that Amin, being Moslem, probably wanted to test this largest Christian denomination. Some even questioned, “Can Amin send a female envoy to Saudi Arabia?”
But in another precedent-shattering decision, the Vatican City was to later announce that Pope Paul VI had indeed accepted the appointment of Ambassador Bernadette Olowo as an envoy at the Holy See.
Consequently, on Jan 24, 1975, Bernadette Olowo, in a flowing black and gold gown, was graciously received at the Vatican by Pope Paul VI, who accepted her credentials to become the first woman Ambassador to the Holy See.
The Vatican’s spokesman stated that Ambassador Bernadette Olowo will be held to the same rules as her male counterparts.
“Now, Ms. Olowo’s accreditation happened at a time when the Vatican was also seriously rethinking the role of a woman in the Roman Catholic Church and the society as whole.
Uganda’s appointment of Bernadette Olowo therefore opened the gates for other countries to start sending women as envoys to the Vatican.
In that same year, that is 1975, Idd Amin, in his alleged bid to empower women, had broken another precedent in the entire Eastern African Region when he appointed Princess Elizabeth Bagaya of Toro to serve as the first female Minister of Foreign affairs.
For instance, Kenya, Uganda’s neighbor in the East waited for two decades before eventually also appointing a lady, in the person of Nyiva Mwendwa to become the Minister of Culture and Social Services in 1995, three years after Multiparty politics were accepted in the Country.
Tanzania on the other hand already had a female cabinet minister from as early as the 1980s.