Biden from the Pope, the historian Faggioli: “Long and warm meeting, some US bishops annoyed”

“The meeting was very long and, from what we have seen from the images given by the Vatican, very warm: the issues are those that were expected on which the two have shared visions, a meeting that will give some more extremist bishops annoyance because it highlighted the points in common rather than those that divide them “. This is how Massimo Faggioli, professor of History of Christianity at Villanova University in Philadelphia, comments with Adnkronos on today’s meeting between Joe Biden and Pope Francis, underlining that, even if, as expected, they did not talk about the American church or abortion , “or if they have talked about it there is no mention in the press releases”, the Vatican audience sends a clear signal to the conservative bishops of overseas. “The dream of some American bishops was that the Pope in the audience reproached Biden, or did not receive him or did it in a humiliating way which is something that reveals a certain ignorance of the history of the Papacy”, continues the historian of religions, author of the book. “Joe Biden and Catholicism in the United States”, published in Italy by Morcelliana, referring to sectors of the American bishops’ conference that would like Biden and other Catholic Democrats to be denied communion for their support of abortion. And that they will try to have a document on the Eucharist voted in this sense precisely in the coming weeks, after precisely the audience in the Vatican of Biden who, Faggioli recalls, the first Catholic president “who must not hide his Catholicism”, as he had to. do Kennedy because America “was still dominated by the Protestant elite”. “For many Catholics in the US, even bishops, it is difficult to understand that the Pope is not only a bishop but also a head of state and must deal with other heads of state despite what they can do internally in their country “explains Faggioli, underlining how in this sense American Catholicism is very” Protestant “, it has” a way of seeing the world in black and white, and instead in politics, in diplomacy, including the Vatican, everything is a shade of gray “. For these bishops, therefore, the fact that the audience with Biden not only took place but was “in this way, very long, very warm is a further message that there is a difference” between them and the Pope “not on the position on abortion, which is the same as the Catholic one, difference on what the Papacy and the Church are up to. “But alongside this cultural motivation, there is also the more strictly political one, with more conservative bishops generally aligned with the positions of the Republican party, “which has become an extremist party”, ending up bringing Biden and Pope Francis even closer because “both must govern while guarding against these ideological fringes”. Biden and Pope Francis then spoke, “as far as can be understood” from the press releases, of China, because when reference is made to religious freedom “that is a fairly clear, albeit veiled, reference to the Chinese question, to the freedom of Christians in China, to Uighurs and other minorities “, continues Faggioli, explaining that even in democratic circles there are” concerns “about the agreement signed by the Vatican with China in 2018 on the appointment of bishops. But the issue was addressed in “respect for diplomatic forms, overcoming the rudeness of Trump and Pompeo”, he says, recalling that the latter, in his last visit as secretary of state to Rome last year, made a very hard and public attack urging the Vatican not to renew the agreement with China. For Faggioli, concern about this agreement in the US “is a bipartisan issue, I have heard Americans in diplomatic circles who are in favor of Biden and Pope Francis but are worried because they think that 3 years ago with this agreement the Vatican allowed itself to be persuaded or deceived by the Chinese “. And it is a fact that “in the last three years since the agreement was signed in September 2018, if we look at Hong Kong, the situation in Taiwan has worsened”, adds the historian of Christianity, explaining that he is in contact with Chinese or Italian Catholics in China and Hong Kong. “This is why it was a question on the agenda – he continues – the important thing was not to go back to the roughness of Trump and Pompeo, but to have respect for diplomatic forms: in my opinion in America it is now understood that the Vatican cannot do anything about China. American politics, they know this, but at the same time there is a concern “. While no explicit reference is made to China in the official press releases, two Latin American countries are directly mentioned, again for the defense of civil liberties and rights, Cuba and Venezuela, with the United States thanking the Vatican for its efforts in favor of people “unjustly imprisoned” in these two countries. “Pope Francis had a role in the normalization of relations between the US and Cuba in 201, and therefore that there is this mention in the communiqué, obviously agreed, is a way to put some pressure on Cuba”, explains Faggioli, also underlining it is also an attention by the American president to the Cuban and Venezuelan communities in America.