France has abandoned its attempt to appoint a devout gay Catholic as its ambassador to the Holy See in Rome.

The French cabinet has instead this week appointed Laurent Stefanini as ambassador to Unesco.

Stefanini entered the French Foreign Ministry in 1985 and in 1989 was appointed the first secretary of the French mission to the UN. In 2001 he was appointed a counsellor at the French embassy to the Holy See. In 2005 he also became adviser for religious affairs ministers Michel Barnier and Philippe Douste-Blazy, before becoming ambassador delegate for the environment, in charge of international negotiations.

The French cabinet approved his appointment to the Holy See at the start of 2015.

The Vatican never ratified the appointment, however. The silence from Rome, equivalent to a refusal, was put down to opposition as a result of Stefanini's sexuality.

This episode threatened a diplomatic crisis between France and the Holy See, with Paris for over a year refusing to withdraw its candidate, according to French newspaper La Croix. There was no indication this week on whether France has decided to present a new candidate for ambassador to the Holy See.

France legalised same-sex marriage in 2013 while Catholic Church teaching remains strongly opposed to practising homosexuality.