"We will see what he does and will judge. Always on the specific…" Twenty days ago, Pope Francis responded this way to Spanish newspaper "El País" on Donald Trump. The Pope showed his intention of not being associated with certain preventive campaigns against the new president. Although, as expected, some of the decrees issued by the White House in recent weeks have sparked strong protests by large sectors of the Catholic world, starting from the executive order known as "Muslim ban."
US Church stand united
That measure had among its outcomes also to reassemble the US Church through representatives such as Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl and Chicago Cardinal Blaise Cupich who are more in tune with Francis. The latter had among other things asked why the ban did not include "the country of origin of 15 of the 19 terrorists of September 11", a clear reference to Saudi Arabia. More conservative wing leaders, such as Cardinal Daniel Di Nardo, current president of the US bishops and son of migrants, have raised their voice along with Archbishops Jose Horacio Gomez of Los Angeles and Charles Chaput of Philadelphia. More reactions are expected to the new wave of arrests and expulsions of immigrants that took place across the country in the last hours.
Anti-abortion policies and dialogue with Moscow
Other among Trump’s decisions have been greeted positively by the US bishops, starting from the executive order to cut public funding to International Planned Parenthood, the body which finances abroad clinics where women can have an abortion." It is hoped that the same rightful attention to life of those who are not yet born is also paid to the lives of those fleeing war or looking for a better future," says a close associate of the Pope. There could be other possible agreements with the Holy See in the less exclusionary approach with Vladimir Putin’s Russia, as well as in social policies.
Fighting Poverty and Financial affairs
Extreme poverty in the US has been growing continuously for over forty years and the deterioration of living conditions have led the electorate towards a change, in America as in Europe. The US president’s intention to restore the Glass-Steagall Act wanted by Franklin Delano Roosevelt after the Wall Street crisis of 1929, which separated commercial banks from investment banks and finance, should not be underestimated. This measure was abolished by Bill Clinton with a decision ranked among the causes of the economic crisis of 2008.
No audience has been requested
To date no audience request has come from the White House to the Vatican. "Upon request, the doors will of course be open, as they have always been for everyone," explained diplomatic sources in Rome. It is likely that before submitting a formal request through official channels, Trump wants to appoint a new ambassador to the Holy See, a position now vacant which may be filled by Newt Gingrich, among other names. A possible date for the meeting in the Vatican is the end of May, when US President will attend the G7 in Taormina.
The axis Bannon-Burke
In recent weeks, some commentators and some articles in the "New York Times" stressed the existence of a possible Roman side for Trump, by highlighting the ties between Stephen Bannon and the conservative US Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, Patron of the Order of Malta and one of the four signatories of the "dubia" on '' Amoris laetitia '. He is also the only cardinal who publicly insisted on the need for a "formal correction" to the Magisterium of Pope Francis. Bannon is a presidential adviser and soul of Breitbart News website, voice of the rudest and most opposing conservative wing. It is unlikely that Trump will move towards the Vatican through Cardinal Burke, who is now considered the most exposed among opponents of Pope Francis in Rome. In the US, the cardinal that the new president has known the best is the Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan.
The Evangelical way
Around the new President there are also evangelical leaders who show a much more positive attitude towards the Argentinian Pope. Among them, the president’s spiritual advisor, Pastor Paula White. An affinity confirmed to Vatican Insider by Salvatore Martinez, president of the Italian Movement of Renewal in the Spirit, just back from Washington where he participated to the traditional "National Prayer Breakfast": "Beyond the first questionable resolutions, Trump’s presidency doesn’t want to give up on the concept of religious freedom of Christian inspiration, on the fight against poverty, the defense of cultural identity and cultural dialogue with the West and the Christian East. Common good is never found in self-referent schemas and America is aware of that. There are bridges to be built, which can override walls of incommunicability". Even with the Vatican.
