Pompeo, Vatican talk China after tensions spill out publicly

Rome – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Vatican officials discussed religious freedom and their differences over China on Thursday, a day after tensions over the Holy See’s outreach to Beijing spilled out in public. Pompeo spent 45 minutes in the Apostolic Palace with his Vatican counterpart, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and the Vatican foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said both sides “presented their respective positions” about relations with China in a climate of “respect, openness and cordiality.”...