Pope Francis Denies Welcoming Pompeo

The Vatican announced today that Pope Francis II, head of the Catholic Church in the world, will not receive US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has arrived in Rome as part of a European tour.

This was confirmed by the Vatican Secretary of State, Archbishop Cardinal Paul Richard Gallagher, who explained to reporters that such a meeting would have been interpreted as an attempt to use the Pope's person in the context of the raging presidential election campaign in the United States.

"This is one of the reasons why the Pope did not meet Secretary Pompeo," the cardinal said.

According to custom prevailed in the Vatican, Gallagher added, the program of events relating to a visit at such a high level is coordinated with the host side, which apparently has not been done.

Gallagher's comments came on the sidelines of a symposium on issues of protecting religious freedom organized by the US Embassy to the Holy See on the occasion of Pompeo's visit.

In his speech during the symposium, Pompeo drew heavy criticism at Beijing in particular, saying that "there is no place today where religious freedom is more attacked than China."

Shortly before his start on the European tour, Pompeo criticized the "temporary agreement" concluded by the Vatican and China in September 2018 regarding the appointment of Catholic bishops in China.

He said that the agreement led to deterioration in the situation of Catholics in that country, which threatens to undermine the moral prestige of the Holy See.