Summary
Archbishop Pietro Parolin, who will become Pope Francis’s new Secretary of State on October 15th, has been praised by The Tablet for his diplomatic achievements. Parolin played a crucial role in re-establishing relations between the Vatican and Vietnam’s Communist Government, securing the appointment of new bishops and initiating diplomatic normalization. He also led delegations to China in 2008 and 2009, reopening dialogue after over five decades, which had never been achieved before. The magazine reported that Parolin was cut off from his contacts with Vietnamese and Chinese governments due to internal disagreements among high-ranking officials involved in these concessions to Communism, leading him to be placed in charge of dealing with the communist regime of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. Critics argue that Parolin’s approach to communism and his past work under Pope Benedict highlight a pro-communist stance by Francis, reminiscent of conciliar Popes who made inadmissible concessions to Communist regimes like John XXIII, Paul VI, and John Paul II.
Key Topics
Communist China, Vietnamese Government, Ostpolitik
