France has abandoned its pursuit to appoint a gay man as ambassador to the Vatican amid resistance from the Catholic Church, choosing to select him for a post at UNESCO.
The French cabinet's choice of Laurent Stefanini as representative to the Paris-based UN culture organisation comes after the Vatican had failed to officially accept or deny his nomination for over a year on the grounds of his homosexuality.
Before Wednesday, Paris had refused to budge on its pick of Stefanini, who had been serving as President Francois Hollande's head of protocol at Elysee Palace and from 2001-05 was the second-ranking diplomat at the French embassy to the Holy See.
Hollande has called Stefanini "one of the best French diplomats".
Like other countries, the Vatican can refuse to accept ambassadorial appointees, though it rarely exercises that option.
