He speaks out against piracy which he says infests the seas, and launched a campaign of solidarity with seafarers and their families affected by the tsunami in Japan.

[11] Pope Francis appointed Vegliò to the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State on 1 June 2013.

[13] In August 2009, he lamented the deaths of more than 70 Eritreans trying to reach Italy in a boat and implicitly criticized the Berlusconi government's tough new policies on immigration.

[14] Vegliò declared that the popular vote held in Switzerland against the construction of additional minarets was a heavy blow for religious freedom and integration in that country.

[15] His colleague Agostino Marchetto expressed a somewhat different view, arguing that the Swiss vote did not compromise religious freedom.