Pompeo to the Vatican: ‘Act like Pope John Paul II’

Pope Francis should show more courage and take an example from his predecessor John Paul II, by strongly condemning the human rights violations in China.

This is what US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested during a short visit to Rome. But the Vatican has made it clear to him that after the recent rapprochement with Beijing, it does not feel like an argument with the Chinese leaders.

Pompeo met at the Vatican on Thursday with the second man there, secretary of Parolin State, and Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s unofficial foreign minister.

In a brief statement afterwards, the director of the Vatican’s press room said that the “parties have expressed their different views on relations with China in a respectful, cordial and relaxed manner”. In other words, they continue to disagree.

Moral authority affected

Pompeo had entered it hard. He wrote last month in the conservative magazine First Things that the Vatican has endangered its moral authority by concluding a provisional agreement with China in 2018. This agreement provides for consultations between Rome and Beijing on the appointment of new bishops. It comes after years of negotiation.

In China, two types of bishops coexisted: Church leaders appointed by the communist regime and those appointed by the Vatican. Unrecognized Catholics had to operate in secret.

According to Pompeo, this accord, which has also been criticized by the former bishop of Hong Kong, did nothing to protect Catholics in China from religious persecution. On the contrary, the Vatican states that a dialogue has started. Rome is eager to extend the deal, which should be confirmed by China later this month.

Stock pursuit for elections

These statements were not appreciated by Pompeo. In the Vatican, they are seen as meddling in church affairs and effectivity in the campaign for the US election. Pompeo was therefore told that the Pope, just before those elections, did not want to receive him in order to keep himself out of the political struggle.

At a symposium Wednesday in Rome Pompeo repeated his criticism. He was referring to Pope John Paul II, who took a stand in the 1980s against the communist regimes in Eastern Europe and against authoritarianism in Latin America. Pope John Paul II […] criticized tyranny, ”said Pompeo. “He showed how the Holy See can lead our world in a more humane direction.”

The American-Italian theologian Massimo Faggioli wrote in the newspaper The cross that Pompeo’s statements are mainly seen in the light of the hunt for the votes of conservative Catholics in the presidential campaign.

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