According to a story from The Free Press — a right-wing publication that sometimes does decent reporting — Trump’s Defense Department invited the Holy See’s then-U.S. Ambassador, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, to a rare meeting at the Pentagon after Pope Leo gave his “state of the world” speech in January.
At that meeting, Trump officials acted like they were giving lessons to Cardinal Pierre about the Pope’s criticism of Trump.
The Free Press says they tried to break down the Pope’s speech, interpreting it as a negative message aimed at Trump’s policies.
The Pentagon was really upset that the Pope dared to question Trump’s silly “Donroe Doctrine,” which is a very strong, almost fascist version of the Monroe Doctrine.
It basically claims the U.S. should control the whole Western Hemisphere.
In his speech, the Pope said that diplomacy based on talking and finding agreement is being replaced by diplomacy using force, whether by individuals or groups of allies.
That was a clear, but not direct, criticism of Trump’s foreign policy.
During the meeting, one Trump official oddly brought up the 14th Century Avignon Papacy, when the French king forced the Pope to live in France.
That time is seen as a low point for the Vatican, sometimes called the “Babylonian captivity.” Bringing up that period while trying to make the current Pope agree to Trump’s demands was like throwing a punch in the Pope’s face.
Pope Leo, who rarely loses his cool like Trump, has gone for a more quiet form of response.
He turned down Trump’s invitation to attend the 250th anniversary of America’s founding and will instead visit a Mediterranean island that’s a key place where African migrants enter Europe.
As for visiting the U.S. under Trump in the future, that now seems very unlikely.
“One Vatican official said, ‘The Pope may well never visit the United States under this administration.'”
We hope that’s true.
While it would be great to have a truly moral leader like Pope Leo visit his home country in all his holy glory, it would send the wrong signal right now. He shouldn’t support this president in any way. Meeting with Trump would do exactly that. Instead, Leo should wait until a Democrat is in the White House, so he can visit an America where things make sense and cruelty isn’t the norm.
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