Vatican official accuses Trump administration of exploiting pope – By Angela Giuffrida (The Guardian) / Oct 1 2020
Pope Francis reportedly declined to meet Mike Pompeo during his visit this week, citing closeness of US presidential election
A top Vatican official has accused Donald Trump’s administration of exploiting Pope Francis in the final stages of the US presidential election campaign.
The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, spoke at a conference on religious freedom on Wednesday organised by the US embassy to the Holy See during his visit to Italy.
When the Italian news agency Ansa asked Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Vatican’s secretary for relations with states, if the US unilaterally organising the event amounted to exploitation of the pope in the run-up to the elections, he replied: “Yes, that is precisely why the pope will not meet American secretary of state Mike Pompeo.”
Pope Francis reportedly declined to meet Pompeo during his visit this week, citing the closeness of the US election. But the move was also likely to be linked to Pompeo’s recent attacks on the Vatican’s perceived soft-pedalling on China’s human rights record as the two sides prepare to extend a historic agreement signed two years ago.
Continue to article: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/30/trump-pope-francis-vatican-mike-pompeo
