Pompeo arrives in Rome amid rift with Vatican

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Rome on Wednesday amid a rift with Vatican over relations with China.

Vatican on Tuesday answered its critics and defended its pursuit of an extended agreement with China on bishop minations, ackwledging difficulties but insisting effort had achieved limited, positive results.

Pompeo this month wrote a harsh critique of Vatican’s 2018 accord with China and suggested Vatican had compromised its moral authority by signing it. Pompeo is scheduled to headline a religious liberty conference on Wednesday with Vatican secretary of state and foreign minister, two architects of deal.

2018 accord was aimed at uniting Catholic flock in China, which is divided between an official church recognized and regulated by Beijing government, and an underground church that has been loyal to Rome.

agreement, which included a process for minating new bishops and regularizing status of seven bishops who weren’t recognized by Rome, was intended as a first step toward thawing decades of estrangement between China and Vatican.

Critics of accord, including retired archbishop of Hong Kong, some underground faithful in China and conservative Catholics elsewhere, accused Vatican of betraying Catholics in China who for decades refused to join state-sanctioned church.

Pompeo criticized accord in an essay published in conservative ecumenical magazine First Things, echoing Trump administration’s overall criticism of Beijing that has grown amid coronavirus pandemic in an election year.

ting that deal is up for renewal when it expires next month, Pompeo wrote: “w more than ever, Chinese people need Vatican’s moral witness and authority in support of China’s religious believers.”

In its first official response to such criticism, Vatican editorial director Andrea Tornielli recalled that accord only covers bishop minations, and did t enter into political or diplomatic relations with China.

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