Officially, Pope Francis has not decided to meet Mike Pompeo because of the presidential campaign in the United States, the final of which will take place on November 3. Despite not being invited by the Pope, this week’s Secretary of State USA He spoke at a conference on religious freedom organized by the US embassy in the Vatican without consulting the head of the Church.
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Francis did not meet Pompeo. Earlier, the US secretary of state criticized the Vatican’s deal with China
The head of Vatican diplomacy, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, said in an interview with the Ansa agency that the conference could be treated as nothing more than an attempt to pull Francis into a political campaign race. “This is why the Pope will not meet Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,” Gallagher said.
“The Guardian” suggests, however, that the short circuit between the Vatican and the US has one more, less official basis. Francis was not supposed to accept Pompeo, because the latter, in the pages of the magazine “First Things”, appealed to the Vatican authorities not to extend the agreement concluded two years ago with China. As he argued – for ethical reasons.
The details of the agreement have never been made public, but unofficially it is said that the Vatican has gained influence on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China. Francis was also to accept eight bishops previously appointed by Beijing without his consent.
During his visit to the Apennine Peninsula, Pompeo met with Prime Minister week Giuseppe Conte and the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of that country, Luigi Di Maio. An associate of Donald Trump made it clear at the time that he was concerned about a possible increase in China’s influence on the Italian economy.
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