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ASSOCIATED PRESS
The direct meeting between the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the Vatican Secretary, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, will take place on Thursday morning.But the public showdown over China between the Trump administration and the Holy See has continued for weeks. And today he has had an unprecedented development, with really unusual postures for diplomacy, a true diplomatic boxing macht.
The Secretary of State of the United States, Mike Pompeo, asked the Vatican to have courage with China, as John Paul II did with the USSR, the undersecretary of Relations with the Vatican States, Paul Gallagher, responded immediately.
The Vatican, which is committed to a new Ostpolitik towards Beijing, after that towards the Soviets, has taken care through an intervention by Andrea Tornielli to officially announce that the agreement with China on the appointment of bishops will be renewed and that the delegation Vatican has already left for China, while the signature is scheduled for October 22 (date of entry into force of the provisional agreement in 2018) a few days before the US presidential elections. As if to put Pompeo (and Trump) before the fait accompli.
October 22 is a very evocative date, both from the point of view of the Catholic Church and for geopolitics. It is the day of the feast of Saint John Paul II, the Great, who is remembered in the Roman Missal on the anniversary of the beginning of his pontificate that in the last century changed the course of history, unleashing the processes that led to the The fall of the Berlin Wall. and at the end of the former Soviet Empire.
For this reason, the Polish Pope was quoted today with great evocative force by Pompeo, recalling that Twenty years ago this week, Pope John Paul II canonized 87 Chinese believers and 33 murdered European missionaries before the current communist regime took power in China. At the time he said: ‘the Church simply wants to recognize that these martyrs are an example of courage and coherence for all of us, and that they honor the noble Chinese people.’ In his speech at the symposium on religious freedom organized in Rome by the United States Embassy to the Holy See, he added: “Brave men and women from all over the world, taking that ‘risk of freedom’, continue to fight for the respect of their the right to worship, because his conscience requires it. “” Pope John Paul II – added the head of US diplomacy – testified to his flock that suffered and defied tyranny. In doing so, he demonstrated how the Holy See can move our world in a more humane direction. ”” May the Church, and all those who know that ultimately we must be accountable to God, be so courageous in our time, “he concluded. Yesterday he said that the agreements are signed by the States, but that the Church’s task is to teach eternal truths.
Pompeo also at a press conference at the Foreign Ministry, responding to a question from the Washington Post, does not beat around the bush: “We have worked to improve the lives of the Chinese people in all these years of administration. We want there to be no human rights violations in that country, I wrote the article to honor the Catholic Church that has always defended the oppressed in the world. All actors who can end this authoritarian regime of the Chinese Communist Party must do so “.
“Since the beginning of his presidency, President Trump has made the international defense of freedomto religious a prioritytoHe said Callista Gingrich, US Ambassador to the Holy See, opening of the Symposium: ”Defend the right to freedomto religious is not just a necessityto moral but it is also a national security imperative “
If this is what was recorded on the proscenium, we must ask ourselves what is happening behind the scenes and especially if during the head-to-head that will take place tomorrow between Parolin and Pompeo, there will be some surprise hits. That is, if Pompeo, when he crosses the Holy Walls, will bring Parolin incontrovertible evidence against Beijing on the persecution of religious minorities (Christians, Buddhists and Muslims) and on China’s role in triggering the global coronavirus pandemic than in a year has already killed a million. dead all over the world.
And if the United States really has this evidence in hand, it could also end in a media campaign in October. Perhaps it is no coincidence that in his interview with the Republic yesterday, Cardinal Maradiaga identified former nuncio Viganò and Steve Bannon (very active in the media), the leaders of the “American” opposition to Pope Francis. .
Pompeo had asked to meet the Pope tomorrow as well. This is not going to happen . “He had requested it, but the Pope had clearly said that political personalities are not received during the electoral campaign, instead a secretary of state meets with his counterpart, the secretary of state,” explained Parolin.
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