State Secretary Of Vatican 'Surprised' By Pompeo's Attacks On Its Relations With China

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th September, 2020) Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin has expressed surprise by the critical statements of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo with regards to the Holy See's agreement with China on the appointment of bishops, media reported on Wednesday.

Pompeo arrived in Rome earlier in the day. He 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 crackdown on the freedom of religion and called on all religious leaders to find the courage to confront this. This takes place at a time when Vatican is due to extend a landmark agreement with Beijing which two years ago put an end to their bitter strife over the bishop appointment regulations.

"We did not expect such direct criticism from the US state secretary even though we have known well for a long time the position of [US President Donald] Trump and Secretary Pompeo in particular," Parolin told reporters at the symposium, as quoted by the Novena news outlet, specializing on Europe's religion-related developments.

According to the report, the cardinal said Pompeo's statement had triggered "I would not say irritation...[but] surprise, yes" in the Vatican, which expected these issues to be raised during a separate scheduled bilateral meeting rather than a public platform.

"Because a visit to Rome was already planned in which Pompeo would meet with the Holy See's leaders, and that seemed to us the most advisable and appropriate place to talk about these things and we will: we will meet tomorrow and there will be an opportunity to discuss these issues," Parolin said.

The cardinal further opined that Pompeo's symposium statements were primarily addressed to the US audience as part of the presidential election campaign, which reportedly was exactly why Pope Francis refused to meet with the US state secretary and "made it clear that audiences are not granted to political figures in the election campaign" � in order for the meeting not to be interpreted as a violation of strict papal neutrality.

Pompeo is scheduled to have a meeting with Parolin and Vatican Secretary for Relations with States Archbishop Paul Gallagher on Thursday. The Holy See has already asserted on several occasions its pursuit of extending the agreement with China.

In modern China, there are factually two parallel Catholic churches � the official one, where bishops are appointed by the Chinese government without consultation with Vatican and a shadow one. The first has around 6 million followers, while the second, according to Western media estimates, has twice as many.

In September of 2018, the Holy See and Beijing reached a preliminary agreement, which is widely praised as a landmark one, regulating the appointment of Catholic bishops in China, an issue that has strained the bilateral relationship for many years. The row was over that Beijing insisted that the appointment of bishops in China be the prerogative of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, while the Holy See insisted that it be done by the Pope unilaterally.

The Holy See and China have suspended diplomatic relations, whereas the Vatican is the only European state to have officially recognized the independence of Taiwan.