VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis expressed his “affection” for the American people as he met at length Monday with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Blinken declined to delve into “domestic politics” when later asked if the two discussed a campaign by U.S. bishops to deny Holy Communion to Roman Catholic politicians like the U.S. president who support abortion rights.
The
Vatican said the two spoke for about 40 minutes, a long time considering that
Blinken isn’t the top U.S. administration leader.
The
closed-door meeting in the Apostolic Palace “played out in a cordial
atmosphere,” a Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, said. The meeting, “was, for
the pope the occasion to recall his 2015 visit and to express his affection and
his attention to the people of the United States of America.”
Bruni
was referring to the pontiff’s U.S. pilgrimage, which included a meeting at the
White House with then President Barack Obama. In recent years, the U.S. church
hierarchy has been increasingly more polarized about U.S. politics and
politicians.
Many of
the more conservative U.S. bishops have been clamoring for a clear directive
from their ranks against giving Communion to U.S. political figures who are
Roman Catholics and support women’s right to abortion. Vatican teaching forbids
abortion as a grave sin. This campaign puts the heat on President Joe Biden, a
Catholic who has said that while he personally opposes abortion, he supports
abortion rights.
Earlier
this month, the U.S. churchmen decided to go ahead and craft a document about
Communion. Only a month earlier, Francis’ top official on doctrinal orthodoxy
had urged the bishops to think the matter through thoroughly and aim to keep
divisions to the minimum.
Blinken
declined to wade into the issue when he was asked at a news conference in Rome
after his Vatican visit if he and Francis had discussed the divisive issue.
“One of
the luxuries of my job is that I don’t do domestic politics,″ said Blinken, who
described his talks with the pope as ”extremely warm and very wide-ranging.”
Francis
himself hasn’t weighed in publicly on the latest squabble in the long-running
wrangling over the Communion issue within the U.S. Conference of Bishops.
Blinken
had high praise for Francis and the opportunity to be the highest level
official in the fledgling Biden administration to have a sit-down session with
the pontiff.
“I was
very gratified by the meeting and gratified as well by the strong leadership of
His Holiness on the pandemic, on climate change” as well as on “the challenge
that we have to address on irregular migration and refugees,″ Blinken said.
The U.S.
official said that speaking more broadly, ”maybe most important of all, his
leadership on the basic proposition that we have to stand for human dignity in
everything we do to the best of our ability.”
Blinken’s
spokesman, Ned Price, said the secretary had assured the pontiff about the
United States’ commitment to working closely with the Holy See to address
global challenges and the needs of the world’s least fortunate and most
vulnerable, including refugees and migrants.”
That
would generally synch with Francis’ overarching agenda of putting those living
on life’s margin at the center of attention.
Blinken
also thanked Francis for “longstanding leadership” on the need to tackle
climate change. Early in his papacy, Francis issued an encyclical, or formal
teaching document, stressing the need to treasure and protect the environment.
Last
year, when Blinken’s predecessor, Mike Pompeo, came to the Vatican, he wasn’t
granted any private time with Francis. At the time, Vatican officials explained
that the Holy See didn’t want to give any impression of favoritism only weeks
before the U.S. presidential election.
Pompeo
had blasted the Vatican for what he said was a lessening of its moral authority
by signing an accord with Beijing over the nominations of Chinese bishops.
Pompeo had insisted that the Holy See take a tougher stand against Chinese
restrictions on religious freedom.
Biden,
for his part, has criticized China for forced labor practices. Blinken’s
spokesperson said China was among the subjects discussed by Francis and the
U.S. secretary.
Human
rights and religious freedom in China were also discussed in Blinken’s separate
talks with the Holy See’s No. 2, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s
secretary of state, and with Archbishop Paul Gallagher, its foreign minister.
Blinken
stressed U.S. support for a return to democracy in Venezuela and “our desire to
help the Venezuelan people rebuild their country,” Price said.
Blinken
was also given a guided, private tour of the Sistine Chapel, with its ceiling
frescoed by Michelangelo and other Renaissance masterpieces.
He had
meetings with Italian officials before his scheduled evening flight to southern
Italy for Tuesday’s Group of 20 meeting of foreign ministers, which is focused
on improving collaboration among nations on climate change, health issues and
development.
***AP
Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report.
https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-pope-francis-europe-religion-9015dfab060bf00dcc29b0ee2dc3adc7