US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo yesterday urged the Vatican to ramp up its opposition to governments abusing religious freedom.
Shortly after landing in Rome on the first day of a two-day visit, Pompeo lost no time in pointing the finger at China as the Vatican prepares to renew a deal on the appointment of bishops there.
“Nowhere is religious freedom under assault more than it is inside of China today,” Pompeo told a conference organized by the US embassy to the Holy See. “As with all communist regimes, the Chinese Communist Party deems itself the ultimate moral authority.”
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US President Donald Trump’s administration has opened a religious front in its campaign to pressure China, picking on the accord over bishops.
Pompeo is not scheduled to meet Pope Francis when he visits the Vatican today, holding talks instead with Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Secretary for Relations with States Paul Gallagher.
Pompeo’s team had initially raised the possibility of an audience with Francis. The pope does not usually grant meetings to government leaders or politicians close to elections, said Vatican officials, who asked not to be named discussing confidential talks.
The Vatican on Tuesday defended its pursuit of an extended agreement with China on bishop nominations.
Vatican editorial director Andrea Tornielli said that the accord only covers bishop nominations, and does not enter into political or diplomatic relations with China.
“The Provisional Agreement exclusively treats the process for the appointment of bishops: an essential question for the life of the church and for the necessary communion between the pastors of the Chinese Catholic Church with the bishop of Rome and with the bishops throughout the world,” Tornielli wrote in an editorial printed in yesterday’s edition of the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano.
Tornielli quoted Parolin as saying that it was worth negotiating an extension to the deal, despite unspecified “difficulties” aggravated by the COVID-19 outbreak.
“Even though contact was blocked in recent months due to the pandemic, the results have been positive, although limited, and suggest going forward with the application of the agreement for another determined period of time,” Tornielli said.
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