Did Pompeo even request an audience? Or is pope just using his visit as an oblique way to bash the US?
Vatican Secretary of State Cdl. Pietro Parolin told U.S. diplomats that the pontiff was canceling his meeting with Pompeo because it might signal support for President Donald Trump's re-election campaign, La Repubblica reported Sunday.
Francis' snub is being seen as a rebuff to Pompeo's recent warning that "the Vatican endangers its moral authority" if it renews its secret deal with China — a concordat which authorizes the atheist communist regime to appoint bishops.
On Monday, the Italian bishops' newspaper Avvenire confirmed the pope's outrage at Pompeo's "interference," quoting Pompeo's words about the "Vatican endangering its moral authority."