Trump administration accused of 'exploiting' Pope ahead of US Presidential Election 2020

With the US Presidential Election just around the corner, the Trump administration has been accused of exploiting Pope Francis in the final weeks of the campaign. As per The Guardian report, a top Vatican official has accused the US President of trying to exploit the Holy Father in the run-up to the elections. 

Read: Pompeo Urges Vatican To Reject China Rights Abuses

Vatican official accuses Trump administration 

According to reports, the US embassy in Italy organised a conference on religious freedom on Wednesday, September 30 with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaking at the event.

When Vatican’s secretary for relations with States Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher was asked if the organisation of such an event amounted to exploitation of the Pope, he said that it did since the event was so close to the election. Archbishop Gallagher is reported to have told the local press that the US Secretary of State was denied the request to meet with the Pope during his recent visit.

Read: Pompeo Arrives In Rome Amid Rift With Vatican

As per reports, the Pope did not meet the US Secretary of State during his visit this week claiming that the meeting would be too close to the elections, but many have speculated that the meeting was denied due to Pompeo’s recent attacks directed at the Vatican for its alleged soft stance on China’s human rights abuse reports. China and the Vatican are due to extend a historic deal that was made two years ago, the details of which haven't been made public, but it supposedly gives Beijing some control over the appointment of Catholic bishops in China.

According to reports, during his visit, Pompeo held a meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio. In the press conference that followed, Pompeo said that the two officers had a detailed conversation over US concerns about China trying to leverage its economic presence in Italy to serve its own strategic purposes.

(Image Credits: AP)

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