Ken Hackett

{{Short description|American diplomat}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = Ken Hackett

|image = Ambassador Ken Hackett.jpg

|office = United States Ambassador to the Holy See

|president = Barack Obama

|term_start = October 21, 2013

|term_end = January 20, 2017

|predecessor = Miguel Díaz

|successor = Callista Gingrich

|birth_name = Kenneth Francis Hackett

|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1947|1|27}}

|birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.

|death_date =

|death_place =

|alma_mater = Boston College

}}

Kenneth Francis Hackett (born January 27, 1947) served as the United States Ambassador to the Holy See from August 2013 until January 2017.{{cite news|last=Gibson|first=David|title=Ken Hackett Is Next Vatican Ambassador: Former Charity Head Unanimously Confirmed By Senate|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/03/ken-hackett--vatican-ambassador-_n_3697670.html|newspaper=Huffington Post|date=August 3, 2013}} He was previously president of Catholic Relief Services (CRS).{{Cite web |date=8 March 2018 |title=The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project AMBASSADOR KENNETH HACKETT |url=https://adst.org/OH%20TOCs/Hackett.Kenneth.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240718172257/https://adst.org/OH%20TOCs/Hackett.Kenneth.pdf |archive-date=18 July 2024 |access-date=18 July 2024 |website=Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training}}

Hackett attended Boston College, graduating in 1968. He then joined the Peace Corps and served in Ghana. Afterwards, he joined Catholic Relief Services (CRS), serving in Africa and Asia. He was named the president of CRS in 1993, retiring in 2011.{{cite news|last=Pitts|first=Jonathan|title=Obama names former CRS head ambassador to the Vatican|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2013/06/14/obama-names-former-crs-head-ambassador-to-the-vatican/|newspaper=The Baltimore Sun|date=June 14, 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004235835/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-06-14/news/bs-md-hackett-to-vatican-20130614_1_crs-president-ken-hackett-catholic-relief-services|archive-date=October 4, 2015}}

He was nominated to the post as Ambassador by President Barack Obama in June 2013 and confirmed by the Senate on August 1, 2013.{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/former-charity-head-confirmed-as-us-ambassador-to-vatican/2013/08/02/e2d153b6-fbac-11e2-89f7-8599e3f77a67_story.html | title=Former charity head confirmed as U.S. ambassador to Vatican | newspaper=Washington Post | date=August 2, 2013 | accessdate=July 10, 2015}}

He presented his Letters of Credence to Pope Francis on October 21, 2013. In March 2016, he was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Pius IX, the highest Papal Award given to lay men and women. He took leave as Ambassador to the Holy See on 16 January 2017.{{cite web|title=Le Udienze|url= http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2017/01/16/0031/00071.html| website=press.vatican.va|publisher=16 January 2017|accessdate=January 17, 2017}}