Obama has followed-up his nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court with the nomination of Miguel Diaz, a Catholic theologian and scholar, to serve as ambassador to the Vatican.
Miguel H. Diaz, 45, a Cuban-born professor of theology at St. John's University and the College of St. Benedict in Collegeville who was an adviser to President Obama's campaign, would be the first Hispanic to serve as envoy to the Vatican since it established diplomatic ties to the United States in 1984.
Word I've seen so far on this pick is that its not only the first time a Hispanic has been nominated for this post, but is a ground-breaker in other ways.
It's an interesting pick on several different levels. The U.S. and the Holy See have only had formal diplomatic relations since 1984, and in those 25 years, most of the ambassadors have been politicians or personal friends of the president who appointed them. <...>
But the selection of Díaz marks the first time that a Catholic expert has filled the position.
Here's a bit more about Diaz' background.
The son of a waiter and a data-entry operator, Diaz was the first person in his family to attend college. He taught religious studies and theology at Barry University, the University of Dayton and Notre Dame. From 2001 to 2003, he was academic dean at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Fla.
Diaz is fluent in English, Spanish and Italian. He is past president of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States, and a father of four.
This pick is also sure to upset the wingers in that Diaz is a one of 26 Catholic leaders and scholars who signed a statement hailing Sebelius as "a woman of deep faith" and citing her a record on immigration, education, health care and reducing abortion rates in Kansas.
And finally, he is a consultant to the Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, who list their current projects as:
Consistent ethic of life
Reduce poverty
Building a moral economy
Worker rights
Given that over over one third of U.S. Catholics are Hispanic and, of church-attending Catholics under age 30, a full 60% are Hispanic, this choice certainly makes sense. I'm sure it won't get the attention the Sotomayor nomination has garnered. But its no less of a statement about the changing face of the U.S. and the way in which our first African American President recognizes that.