Posted on 09/29/2020 5:58:11 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
VATICAN CITY — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives in Rome Wednesday morning for talks with his Italian and Holy See counterparts — but unlike his visit to the Vatican last year, he won’t be meeting Pope Francis.
The Vatican has reportedly told U.S. diplomats the Holy Father preferred not to meet the Trump administration’s top diplomat in order not to be seen influencing the U.S. presidential election.
Although Pompeo met Pope Francis in a private audience last October, it is usually rare for foreign ministers to be granted the privilege. Instead, they meet their Vatican counterparts, and on Wednesday Pompeo will have talks with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State who is a key figure behind the Holy’s See provisional agreement with China, and Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Secretary for Relations With States.
Italian and foreign media have suggested Pompeo was snubbed due to an article he wrote last week strongly critical of the Holy See-China two-year provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops, which was signed in 2018 and is now up for renewal.
The U.S. embassy to the Holy See was unwilling to comment on the article, and the Holy See Press Office did not respond to Register inquiries about the reasons for the Pope not receiving Pompeo.
The article, published in First Things, was a clear call to the Vatican that it should not renew the controversial accord, which it looks set to do next month.
(Excerpt) Read more at ncregister.com ...
More and more, Pompeo seems to be the guy to watch.
For real.
When is a Pope not a Pope?
Yes, Pompeo is excellent.
As for Bergoglio and China, I read in the Spanish press that the wildly corrupt Becciu, whom Bergoglio was forced to remove because he couldn’t protect him anymore, was involved in the financial aspects of the mysterious Vatican-China agreement.
So this may be another reason Bergoglio is refusing to see Pompeo.
As de as for refusing to see Cardinal Zen - or, in fact, not even deigning to refuse but instead simply ignoring him - that’s just plain cruel and evil.
The Pope didn’t want Pompeo telling him to his face that he was wrong to sell out to China.
I think the pope won’t meet with Pompeo because he doesn’t want to do anything that he thinks might help Trump. No doubt he would love to tell US Catholics in so many words not to vote for Trump, but probably the American bishops have warned him that would backfire.
I’d like to see him run for president at some point.
Then pull the Ambassador. Before the 80s they never had an ambassador. It was a cold war reward to John Paul II because he was a solid ally against the USSR. Today it’s silly to send a diplomatic ambassador to the headquarters of a church. It’s not a nation in any normal sense so they should show some gratitude for us doing so.
Nope, CIA and Harvard are deal breakers for me. If you decide to associate with those two organizations, you become unqualified in my book. Same with FBI.
This pope does not tolerate dubia or critique. Sign of saintliness? Nope, but very human.
I agree.
As much as I agree with what was said about his background, he seems to get it, completely.
Like Putin, in a way.
I like him.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.