Mon 28 June 2021:
Pope Francis on Monday received US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is on his first European tour, the Holy See said.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the meeting lasted 40 minutes and took place in a “friendly atmosphere”.
“It offered the Pope the occasion to recall his apostolic visit to the United States in 2015 and to express his affection for the people of America,” Bruni added.
The US state secretary arrived in Rome on Sunday. Prior to Italy, he had visited France and Germany.
Blinken’s predecessor, Mike Pompeo, who visited the Vatican in October 2020, was denied a private audience with the head of the Catholic Church over the Trump administration’s attacks on the Vatican’s relations with China.
Pompeo had attended the Holy See’s Symposium on Advancing and Defending Religious Freedom through Diplomacy at the US embassy where he slammed the unmatched force of China’s alleged crackdown on the freedom of religion and called on all religious leaders to find the courage to confront this.
This took place at a time when the Vatican was due to extend a landmark agreement with Beijing, which in 2018 put an end to their bitter strife over the bishop appointment regulations.
The Holy See and China have had no diplomatic relations since 1951. The Vatican is the only European country to have official ties with Taiwan.
US bishops challenge Biden
Earlier this month US bishops agreed to draft a statement that could potentially deny the holy communion — one of the most sacred rituals in the church — to any US leader who supports abortion rights.
The pope has previously spoken by telephone with Biden and shares some of the priorities of the new administration, including stepping up the fight against climate change and showing more compassion to refugees.
Francis, both the first Jesuit pope and the first pontiff from the Americas, had an uneven relationship with Donald Trump despite the previous president’s opposition to abortion.
He criticised Trump’s push to seal off Mexico with a wall. He declined last year to meet Blinken’s predecessor, Mike Pompeo, concerned about being seen as showing support close to an election, although he met earlier with Pompeo.
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