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The Pope’s audience with the United States Secretary of State was never really planned. But Washington’s attack on the Rome-China deal has suggested retaliation. On the agenda of the meeting with the “Prime Minister” Parolin.
by Carlo Marroni
The Pope’s audience with the United States Secretary of State was never really planned. But Washington’s attack on the Rome-China deal has suggested retaliation. On the agenda of the meeting with the “Prime Minister” Parolin.
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There have been several diplomatic crises, real or alleged, between the Vatican and the United States. But certainly that of these hours is not. On the order of business for the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Italy on September 29-30, there was never an audience with Pope Francis. So there is no cancellation. What explains the pontifical diplomacy is the established practice: the Pope never receives political authority during the electoral campaigns of the countries to which he belongs. Not only. Pompeo is Minister of Foreign Affairs and therefore the conversation should be with his counterpart, Monsignor Paul Gallagher, but instead he will also meet with the “Prime Minister”, Pietro Parolin.
So everything is regular. On September 30 Pompeo will deliver a speech at the United States Embassy to the Holy See, led by Ambassador Callista Gingrich, wife of the former leader of the ultra-conservative Republicans Newt Gingrich, still influential and omnipresent in Rome at public ceremonies, on the occasion of a symposium on the advancement and defense of religious freedom through diplomacy.
Pompeo’s attack on the Vatican-China agreement
In recent days, an interpretation has circulated according to which Francisco would have canceled the appointment after a position by Pompeo – on behalf of President Trump – against the renewal of the agreement reached between the Vatican and China after endless negotiations in 2018 on the appointment of bishops. The deal had a two-year “trial,” expiring on October 22 (it went into effect one month after signing), and US pressure is mounting. Pompeo wrote in a tweet a few days ago: “Two years ago, the Holy See reached an agreement with the Communist Party of China, hoping to help Chinese Catholics. But the CCP’s abuse of the faithful has only gotten worse. The Vatican would put its moral authority at risk if it renewed the agreement. ” The tweet from the head of US diplomacy relaunches an essay written for First Things, a well-known American conservative magazine. Ultimately, Pompeo – on behalf of Trump – questions the agreement and says why in his opinion the Holy See should renounce it. “If the Communist Party of China succeeds in drawing the attention of the Catholic Church and other religious communities, regimes that disregard human rights will be strengthened and the cost of resisting tyrannies will increase for all the brave faithful who honor the God above. “. of the autocrat on duty ».
The long road to the agreement with China for the appointment of bishops
The issue is part of a global plan by the Republican administration to gradually strengthen relations with China, and for this reason the 2018 agreement with the Vatican was frowned upon from the beginning, opposed in every way by conservative circles in the Church. it resolved with the part of the eastern church that was opposed to any mediation with the regime. Of course, Catholics in China – 15 million – have been persecuted for decades and priests and bishops imprisoned, but things have gradually improved since 2007, after Benedict XVI’s document to Chinese Catholics (written by then-Monsignor Piero Parolin, since 2013 cardinal secretary of state of the Vatican). China has been Bergoglio’s fixed target since his election, and progressive signs of unfreezing relations led to the deal.
The Holy See-United States clashes and the prospect of the next elections
There have been many real clashes between the United States and the Vatican, it was said, for different reasons and scenarios. John Paul II was the Pope who initiated official diplomatic relations in the time of Ronald Reagan, and joined the “pastoral” action with that American policy in an anti-Soviet key. A holy alliance that worked, and the encyclical Centesimus Annus was seen as the closest point to American conservative doctrines. Then, the “break” years later over the war in Iraq, the reconciliation with Ratzinger and the difficult relations between Obama and the ultra-conservative bishops of the United States, until the election of Bergoglio, which was immediately frowned upon. Now the former nuncio in Washington Carlo Viganò is also setting himself on fire against Francis, who from his secret residences spits on the Pope daily after having incredibly accused him of having “covered up” the stalker Cardinal Mc Carrick and is also heard in America. in common environments. In short, the US offensive comes in a very complicated context, in which the now imminent vote for the presidential elections stands out: Trump, objectively light years away from any possible Catholic value, opposes the Catholic Joe Biden, accused by the extreme right of pro-choice on the issue of abortion. The Pope doesn’t like this either, but perhaps he still considers it preferable to Trump. But he will never tell.
