“So much wisdom”. This is the anomalous wish of Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin to the president-elect Donald Trumpaccompanied by the underlining of the differences with the Holy See on migration policies. Words that demonstrate the coldness with which the news of the death was received in the Vatican re-election of the tycoon although the Pope had also rejected his rival Kamala Harris for her pro-choice positions on abortion. For Bergoglio, in fact, “both are against life, both the one who throws away migrants and the one who kills children”. The Pontiff had invited Americans to choose the lesser evil.
The previous one
The Holy See’s less than enthusiastic reaction is not surprising in light of what happened in 2020, at the end of Trump’s first presidential term. A real diplomatic incident took place between the Vatican and Washington when the then US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo he criticized the Provisional Agreement on the appointments of bishops and asked the Holy See not to renew it. During his subsequent visit to Rome, Pompeo was not received by the Pope. Parolin maintained that the lack of audience was due to the imminence of the elections. Also at that juncture, another crisis occurred between the Trump administration and the Secretariat of State with the angry comments of Monsignor Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States, who spoke openly of possible political exploitation in view of the American elections behind the request for a papal audience with Pompey and then criticized a symposium on the religious freedom organized by the embassy of the United States of America to the Holy See.
China
At the end of the 2020 conversation between Pompeo and Parolin, a note reported the distance between the positions of the two parties. The Holy See, in fact, did not accept the invitation of the then US Secretary of State, so much so that the Agreement on bishops with China was renewed from time to time. Last October there was the third renewal, anticipated in some declarations by the Pope. The Agreement is certainly not very popular with American Catholicism more influential than in recent years Francis has kept out of the Sacred College, preferring to create cardinals those American bishops who are an expression of the liberal minority and often critical of Trump.
Migrants
In addition to China, the hottest dossier in relations between the Vatican and Washington is that of migrants. Trump promised a crackdown onillegal immigration once he returned to the White House. The Holy See has already made it known that it does not appreciate this program. Parolin claimed that the Pope’s position on migrants “it’s very clear” and that the Holy See is in favor of one “wise policy” on migrants who “don’t go to these extremes”. The extreme, according to Parolin, is what has been defined as the largest mass deportation of illegal immigrants promised by Trump during the election campaign. While the Secretary of State was keen to remind us of the existence of points of distance with the president-elect – something that rarely happens on the part of Vatican diplomacy – the president of the American bishops avoided any possible controversy in his post-election comment.
Monsignor Timothy BroglioIn fact, he stated that “as bishops we are ready to work with all elected political representatives with the aim of pursuing the common good” and added to pray “so that the newly elected President Trump and all political leaders can act in accordance with the responsibilities entrusted to them for serve the country and the citizens”.