Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See, expressed this Thursday, November 5, his wish that after the midterm elections in the United States “reason and common sense prevail.” He said this in Rome to journalists who questioned him on the sidelines of a symposium on the Church in China held at the Pontifical Urbaniana University, according to Vatican News.
“Difficult to respond to such an apodictic statement”
Asked whether democracy had won, Parolin avoided evaluating the result. “It is difficult to respond to this apodictic statement,” he replied, before adding: “We hope there will be the capacity to collaborate and find a modus vivendi for the good of the country that we desire.” The cardinal thus avoided commenting on the winners or the losers and placed his response in the realm of institutional coexistence.
The prelate also referred to the change of majority in Congress. “I imagine that the fact that the majority has prevailed in both chambers will bring changes; now we will see how they are managed,” he noted. And he concluded: “That remains an unknown, but we hope that reason and common sense prevail.”
The Pope’s vote and the war in Ukraine
Journalists also asked him whether he had been surprised by the vote of Leo XIV in these elections, which has given rise to numerous comments. Parolin responded that he had thought “it had never happened before,” but stressed that the Pope “is an American citizen” and that “he has every right to do so.”
According to Vatican News, the Secretary of State also linked the new political situation in Washington with the hope of moving toward peace. He said he trusted that “everything possible” would be done to close “the very painful chapter of Ukraine” and other conflicts, although he admitted that it is difficult to predict what changes will occur.
The symposium on Chinese bishops
The statements were made at the end of a symposium organized by the Fides Agency on the occasion of the centenary of the consecration of the first six Chinese bishops. In that same meeting with the media, Parolin spoke about the agreement between the Holy See and China on the appointment of bishops. “All agreements are imperfect,” he stated, and specified that progress continues “by trying to perfect what is imperfect.”
The cardinal’s words constitute the first public reading by the Secretariat of State after the U.S. elections. His response, in a cautious tone, does not address the result or the consultations on issues such as abortion that were decided in several states.