Instead of traveling to the States, Leo will spend July 4th on the Italian island of Lampedusa, a major entry point for migrants entering into Europe from Africa. Rather than engage in Trump’s jingoistic celebration of American military might, the pope is calling attention to the very same class of people that this White House spends much of its time demonizing.
The rebuke of the invite is noteworthy because Vance personally invited the pope to the 250th celebration during his visit to Rome last year. This marks yet another instance of Leo snubbing the Trump administration, following soon after he rejected an invitation to join Trump’s corrupt “Board of Peace.”
Vance likes to make a big show of being a Catholic convert, but everything he does is profoundly out of step with Catholic morality. He’s a key member of a regime that’s brutalizing migrants on a daily basis and Pope Leo has made defending migrants a cornerstone of his papacy.
Trump has vowed that this July 4th will be “the most spectacular birthday party the world has ever seen” but judging by the deeply embarrassing failure that was his big military parade, our expectations are low. Pope Leo ain’t missing much!
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