(1 Oct 2020) U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Thursday with top Vatican officials, a day after tensions over U.S. opposition to the Vatican's China policy spilled out in public.
The Vatican declined his request to see Pope Francis, citing Vatican policy to not grant papal audiences during election campaigns.
Pompeo visited the St. Egidio Community, a Catholic charity active in caring for refugees in Italy and providing HIV-AIDS care in Africa.
Arriving at the charity's headquarters, Pompeo its efforts as "the Lord's work."
Pompeo was at the Vatican to participate in a conference on religious freedom organized by the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See.
During the conference on Wednesday, Pompeo urged the Vatican to join the U.S. in denouncing violations of religious freedom in China, part of the U.S. effort to criticize Beijing amid the coronavirus pandemic and ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
The conference was organized at the same time the Vatican is entering into delicate negotiations with China on extending their controversial 2018 agreement on nominating bishops for China.
Pompeo has strongly criticized the accord, penning an essay earlier this month suggesting that the Vatican had compromised its moral authority by signing it.
His article greatly irritated the Vatican, which saw it as interference in the church's internal affairs for the sake of scoring domestic political points.
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