Pope voices ‘affection’ for Americans as he meets Blinken
Pope Francis waves from a window overlooking St. Peter's Square in the Vatican during the weekly Angelus prayer followed by the recitation of the Regina Coeli on May 9.
VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Francis has met privately with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and expressed his “affection” and “attention” to the U.S. people.
The Vatican said the two men spoke Monday for about 40 minutes, which is a good deal of time since Blinken isn't the top U.S. administration leader. Blinken received a guided, VIP tour of the Sistine Chapel before his sit-down with Francis.
In 2020, when the Trump's administration secretary of state came to the Vatican, Francis didn't grant him a meeting in view of the approaching U.S. presidential election.
