IMAGE: CNS/Robert Duncan
By Keanine Griggs
ROME
(CNS) — Despite opposing views on some issues, the U.S. Embassy to the Holy
See will still look for common ground on global issues, the interim leader of
the embassy said.
“There’s
an expectation that the relationship between President (Donald) Trump and Pope
Francis will be difficult to establish” and that “the bilateral
relationship between the United States and the Holy See is going to suffer and
that is not the case at all,” Louis Bono, charge d’affaires to the U.S.
Embassy to the Holy See said. Bono temporarily leads the embassy while it waits
for a new U.S. ambassador to be named and confirmed.
Speaking
to Catholic News Service March 6, Bono talked about expectations
of the future relationship between the United States and the Holy See under the
Trump administration.
The
embassy, he said, hopes to continue its joint efforts on global issues, such as
combating human trafficking and ending modern slavery.
“Our
goal right now is to keep that relationship moving forward, to look for more
areas of collaboration” and “to build upon the successes that we’ve already
experienced,” he said.
The
narrative that portrays Pope Francis and President Trump as adversaries, he
added, does not interfere with the relationship between the United States and the
Holy See.
“It
is also important that we have this strong relationship,” because when “there
are areas of differences, areas where we disagree,” it is important “to
be able to speak openly and frankly about those issues and to try and find
common ground.” he said.
President
Trump was scheduled to attend the G7 meeting in Sicily in May, but it wasn’t yet
announced whether he would also go to Rome.
However,
Bono said, “I expect that eventually the pope and the president will meet
and they’ll have the opportunity to speak frankly if there are any areas of
differences, but more so, to focus on those areas where we do have common
ground and to identify how we can work together further.”
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A
video to accompany this story can be found at: https://youtu.be/V0TOBghG1oU
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