UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism
Jerry Slevin
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, a practicing Catholic, met for almost two hours recently with Cardinal-designate Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, traditionally the top Vatican position under the pope. Ironically, Parolin had been then powerful Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Sodano’s top deputy in 2004 when the Vatican reportedly helped undermine Kerry among US Catholic voters leading to Kerry’s loss to President Bush.
The two reportedly discussed issues related to international religious freedom, including Middle East hot spots and even US healthcare reform. US bishops appear to be contending in the current election campaign for control of the US Senate and likely the continuing US Supreme Court majority that Obamacare’s contraception insurance mandate violates their religious freedom. For more on the meeting, see:
Lurking in the background appears to be the Vatican’s goal of preventing outside governments’ involvement in the Vatican’s control of its bishops, especially in their lobbying efforts to regulate women’s reproduction options as well as their management, or mismanagement, of child abuse allegations worldwide. Looming clashes between national governments and the Vatican on these issues seem inevitable. It is unclear whether the recent meeting will lead to direct discussions between Pope Francis and President Obama on religious freedom, contraception insurance and/or unaccountable bishops. The two have never met.
Meanwhile, later this week the Vatican will have to answer on the record for six hours questions on its child abuse oversight before an international tribunal, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva.
In a 2005 meeting on related Middle East and religious freedom matters, Vatican Secretary of State Sodano, Parolin’s boss then, reportedly sought US Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice’s help in dealing with the Vatican’s oversight of a bishop in a US priest child abuse case, see:
It is unknown whether either Parolin or Kerry raised the priest child abuse scandal subject recently, although the scandal is even more pressing today than it was in 2005.
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