{"id":227793,"date":"2023-04-11T09:29:54","date_gmt":"2023-04-11T09:29:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/geopolitica-vaticana\/"},"modified":"2023-04-12T15:46:34","modified_gmt":"2023-04-12T15:46:34","slug":"vatican-geopolitics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/en\/vatican-geopolitics\/","title":{"rendered":"Vatican geopolitics"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 class=\"entry-title\"><span class=\"font-377884\">Vatican geopolitics<\/span><\/h1>\n<h3><span class=\"font-377884\"><em>The Church\u2019s global influence will dwindle unless a new Catholic wave reverses current trends.<\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n<h2 class=\"toc-only\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"font-377884\">In a nutshell<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"font-377884\">The Vatican\u2019s stance on the war strains relations with Russia<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"font-377884\">The Catholic Church faces increasing pressure from Beijing<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"font-377884\">The EU is spearheading the secularization trend<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_227579\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-227579\" style=\"width: 840px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/en\/francesco-i-jorge-mario-bergoglio-image-by-mikdev-from-pixabay-2\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-227579\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-227579\" src=\"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Francesco-I-Jorge-Mario-Bergoglio-Image-by-Mikdev-from-Pixabay-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Francesco I - Jorge Mario Bergoglio Image by Mikdev from Pixabay\" width=\"840\" height=\"560\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Francesco-I-Jorge-Mario-Bergoglio-Image-by-Mikdev-from-Pixabay-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Francesco-I-Jorge-Mario-Bergoglio-Image-by-Mikdev-from-Pixabay-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Francesco-I-Jorge-Mario-Bergoglio-Image-by-Mikdev-from-Pixabay-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Francesco-I-Jorge-Mario-Bergoglio-Image-by-Mikdev-from-Pixabay-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Francesco-I-Jorge-Mario-Bergoglio-Image-by-Mikdev-from-Pixabay-350x233.jpg 350w, https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Francesco-I-Jorge-Mario-Bergoglio-Image-by-Mikdev-from-Pixabay.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-227579\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"font-377884\">Francesco I &#8211; Jorge Mario Bergoglio Image by Mikdev from Pixabay<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\"><span class=\"font-377884\">The question of how the Vatican positions itself geopolitically has recently aroused renewed interest among the broader public. The end of the unipolar world order and the loss of Church influence in Europe and North America present the Vatican with tremendous challenges.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"font-377884\">Pope Francis hits clearly different political notes than his predecessors John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Since the death of Benedict, who mediated for 10 years as \u201cpope emeritus\u201d between his successor and his critics, internal church conflicts have intensified. In Germany, the differences between progressives and conservatives have become so acute that a schism can no longer be ruled out. Naturally, interest today is primarily focused on the war in Ukraine. There has been no shortage of appeals for peace since the Russian invasion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-pope-francis-and-the-invasion-of-ukraine\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"font-377884\">Pope Francis and the invasion of Ukraine<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"font-377884\">On February 24, 2022, Pope Francis called for the immediate cessation of hostilities. Since then, he has repeated this appeal dozens of times, expressing his sympathy for those suffering from the war. However, the Pope doubts whether it is right to deliver weapons to Ukraine and has stated that the United States and NATO are partly to blame for the conflict: \u201cThey are barking at the gates of Russia. They do not understand that the Russians are imperialists and will allow no foreign power to approach them,\u201d he said a few months before the invasion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"font-377884\">The pontiff said that he is not on President Vladimir Putin\u2019s side, but that he is \u201csimply against reducing complexity to the distinction between good guys and bad guys without reasoning about roots and interests, which are very complex. In the end, it is about the interest in testing and selling weapons. It is very sad, but at the end of the day that is what is at stake.\u201d This judgment clearly expresses the Latin American Pope\u2019s fundamental distrust of the U.S.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"font-377884\">Pope Francis has so far declined to visit Kyiv unless he can also travel to Moscow. President Putin has so far left this request unanswered. The war in Ukraine not only put a strain on diplomatic relations between the Vatican and the Russian Federation, it also ended the dialogue with the Moscow Patriarchate for the foreseeable future. Moscow, Russian Orthodox clerics argue, is the \u201cThird Rome\u201d with a divine duty to defend its empire against evil in the West. Even in the religious sphere, East-West relations are at their lowest point since the end of the Cold War.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"font-377884\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/en\/mikhail-gorbachev-and-a-part-of-history-goes-away\/\">Mikhail Gorbachev and a part of history goes away<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"font-377884\">The Catholic Church and authoritarian regimes<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"font-377884\">The second major challenge for the Vatican is China, where the Catholic Church has come under increasing pressure since Xi Jinping came to power. Pope Francis is trying to ease their situation by making concessions to the regime. In 2018, the Vatican signed an agreement with China that was renewed in 2022. It provides for the appointment of Catholic bishops by the communist government, which the Pope can only veto. One of the harshest critics of the agreement, which has not been made public, is the 91-year-old Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"font-377884\">The Vatican\u2019s relations with Latin American revolutionaries are also controversial. In September 2015, Pope Francis visited Cuba, where he had a conversation with Fidel Castro that was described as \u201cintimate.\u201d The pope has expressed only muted criticism of authoritarian Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who has shut down Catholic television and radio stations, expelled the papal nuncio, and arrested Catholic priests.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"font-377884\">Many also criticized the Pope\u2019s recent trip to Africa. When he visited the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan in February 2023, he condemned \u201cterrible forms of exploitation, unworthy of humanity\u201d and called for \u201cHands off Africa! Stop choking Africa: it is not a mine to be stripped or a terrain to be plundered.\u201d But he said nothing about the responsibility of the African elite for poverty and underdevelopment.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"font-377884\">Popes and geopolitics<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"font-377884\">Protecting Christians in authoritarian regimes has been a problem for popes since the Russian Revolution and the Nazi seizure of power. When French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval asked Stalin in May 1935 to stop persecuting Catholics in order to appease the Pope, he is said to have replied: \u201cThe Pope? How many divisions does he command?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"font-377884\">In March 1937, Pius XI denounced red and brown totalitarianism in two consecutive encyclicals: \u201cMit brennender Sorge\u201d against National Socialism, \u201cDivini redemptoris\u201d on Soviet communism. His successor Pius XII is often accused of not having publicly spoken out against the Holocaust. While no serious historian denies that he did everything in his power to protect Jews from being captured by Nazis, his \u201csilence\u201d is held against him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"font-377884\">Pius XII strictly rejected compromises with the communists. In 1949 he sanctioned membership in a communist party with excommunication. The course changed, however, under John XXIII (1958-1963), who had to seek arrangements to allow bishops behind the Iron Curtain to attend the Vatican II council.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_227583\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-227583\" style=\"width: 840px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/en\/giovanni-paolo-ii-karol-wojtyla-image-by-ryszard-porzynski-from-pixabay-2\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-227583\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-227583\" src=\"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Giovanni-Paolo-II-Karol-Wojtyla-Image-by-Ryszard-Porzynski-from-Pixabay-1013x1024.png\" alt=\"Giovanni Paolo II - Karol Wojtyla Image by Ryszard Porzynski from Pixabay\" width=\"840\" height=\"849\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Giovanni-Paolo-II-Karol-Wojtyla-Image-by-Ryszard-Porzynski-from-Pixabay-1013x1024.png 1013w, https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Giovanni-Paolo-II-Karol-Wojtyla-Image-by-Ryszard-Porzynski-from-Pixabay-297x300.png 297w, https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Giovanni-Paolo-II-Karol-Wojtyla-Image-by-Ryszard-Porzynski-from-Pixabay-768x776.png 768w, https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Giovanni-Paolo-II-Karol-Wojtyla-Image-by-Ryszard-Porzynski-from-Pixabay-1519x1536.png 1519w, https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Giovanni-Paolo-II-Karol-Wojtyla-Image-by-Ryszard-Porzynski-from-Pixabay-350x354.png 350w, https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Giovanni-Paolo-II-Karol-Wojtyla-Image-by-Ryszard-Porzynski-from-Pixabay-45x45.png 45w, https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Giovanni-Paolo-II-Karol-Wojtyla-Image-by-Ryszard-Porzynski-from-Pixabay.png 1899w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-227583\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"font-377884\">John Paul II &#8211; Karol Wojtyla Image by Ryszard Porzynski from Pixabay<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span class=\"font-377884\">With the election of Krakow Archbishop Karol Wojtyla as Pope John Paul II in 1978, a new era of the Vatican\u2019s Eastern policy began. Wojtyla differed from his predecessors not only in his personal experience under the communist dictatorship and his knowledge of the methods of its struggle against the Church, but above all in his unshakable faith in the power of a religiously motivated nation. Under John Paul II, the communist regimes came up against the \u201cdivisions of the Pope,\u201d especially in Poland, Lithuania and Slovakia. The democratic revolutions in Eastern Europe and the collapse of the Soviet Union marked the high point, but also the turning point, of the Catholic Church\u2019s geopolitical influence in the 20th century.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"font-377884\">John Paul II believed in a new evangelization of Europe. But this turned out to be just as unsuccessful as his hope that Western and Eastern Christianity would coexist harmoniously. While Wojtyla\u2019s health deteriorated, signs of a deep crisis appeared in the Catholic Church. Probably no one was more aware of the extent of this crisis than Pope Benedict XVI, whom the conclave elected on April 19, 2005, as successor to John Paul II. As early as 1975, when he was still a professor in Regensburg, Ratzinger described \u201cthe incomparably new nature of the current situation, of a change in the world and in people that cannot be measured by the usual standards of historical change.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"font-377884\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/en\/swiss-papal-guard-recruits-oath\/\">Swiss Papal Guard recruits Oath<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"font-377884\"><a href=\"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/en\/switzerland-and-the-holy-see-a-century-of-diplomatic-relations\/\"><strong>Switzerland and the Holy See: a century of diplomatic relations<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"font-377884\">Accelerating secularization<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"font-377884\">The first tendencies toward secularization became apparent in Western European societies soon after World War II. John XXIII\u2019s aggiornamento (renewal) of the Second Vatican Council was meant to convey the Catholic message of faith in a contemporary manner. Instead, it flattened beliefs, encouraged the secularization of the Church and deepened the divide between modernists and traditionalists. While the Church was gaining influence in the communist East, it came under increasing pressure in the West, not least under the impact of the Marxist-oriented cultural revolution at universities and in the media.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"font-377884\">Christian-democratic political parties reacted to this shift by throwing their Christian programs overboard. Scores of Christian Democrat politicians voted alongside Social Democrats and Liberals in favor of abortion rights and same-sex marriage. In the last years of John Paul II and especially during the pontificate of Benedict XVI, \u201ccreeping secularization\u201d began to spread like wildfire. In traditionally Catholic countries like Ireland, Spain, Italy and eventually even Poland, young people are turning away from the Church. While 50.3 percent of Catholics still attended Sunday mass in Poland in 1990, in 2019 it was only 36.9 percent. In all of these countries, abandonment of the Church goes hand in hand with declining birth rates.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"font-377884\">A 2018 Pew Research Center survey of 34 European countries found a decline in the proportion of Catholics in the population. Ronald Inglehart, the founder of the World Values Survey, came to a similar conclusion in an international comparison: \u201cFrom 2007 to 2020, an overwhelming majority (43 out of 49) of these countries became less religious. This decline in belief is strongest in high-income countries but it is evident across most of the world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"font-377884\">The European Union promotes the secularization of European societies. In 2004, the European Parliament rejected the Roman Catholic philosopher Rocco Buttiglione, who had been nominated as Commissioner for Justice, because he professed Catholic sexual morality. The inclusion of a reference to God in a European constitution was vetoed by France in 2003. The Lisbon Treaty (2007) mentions the \u201ccultural, religious and humanistic heritage of Europe,\u201d but not Christianity as a formative force in European history.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"font-377884\">Globally, the focus of Catholicism is shifting to Africa, both in terms of the number of baptized and the proportion of practicing believers among them. But while the number of Catholics in southern Africa is increasing due to rapid population growth, it is lagging behind the growth of other Christian denominations<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_132231\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-132231\" style=\"width: 840px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/en\/swiss-papal-guard-recruits-oath\/rome-g08cce5862_1920-2\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-132231\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-132231\" src=\"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/rome-g08cce5862_1920-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Citt\u00e0 del Vaticano\" width=\"840\" height=\"560\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/rome-g08cce5862_1920-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/rome-g08cce5862_1920-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/rome-g08cce5862_1920-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/rome-g08cce5862_1920-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/rome-g08cce5862_1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-132231\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"font-377884\">Citt\u00e0 del Vaticano<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"font-377884\">Scenarios<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"font-377884\">Continuing secularization<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"font-377884\">Secularization robs Christianity of its importance as a core element of identity and social cohesion, and as a barrier to the spread of Islam in immigration countries. Worn out by sterile infighting, the Catholic Church turns into a state-funded humanistic NGO.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"font-377884\">Cardinal Gerhard Muller, the former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, says the Church\u2019s attitude reminds him of the theologians who argued about the color of the Madonna\u2019s eyes during the siege of Constantinople.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"font-377884\">Religious backlash<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"font-377884\">In Europe and the U.S., the elite-driven cultural revolution encounters increasing resistance, boosting the standing of conservative parties. An anti-woke counterrevolution ensues, with the Catholic Church returning to the role it played under John Paul II during communism. A new wave of orthodoxy rolls back the influence of modernist theologians. The next conclave produces a conservative African pope who turns the tide.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"font-377884\"><strong>Author: Karl-Peter Schwarz &#8211; <\/strong>Austrian journalist and columnist<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"font-377884\">Source:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"SQQ2uRafpX\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gisreportsonline.com\/r\/vatican-geopolitics\/\">Vatican geopolitics<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;Vatican geopolitics&#8221; &#8212; GIS Reports\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gisreportsonline.com\/r\/vatican-geopolitics\/embed\/#?secret=14Z7x2WUpu#?secret=SQQ2uRafpX\" data-secret=\"SQQ2uRafpX\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mrkeyshop.com\/en\/office-2019\/207-outlook-2019-product-key?MrKey=493\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-fluid psaffiliate-banner aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/mrkeyshop.com\/modules\/psaffiliate\/views\/img\/banners\/banner-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"290\" height=\"179\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Church\u2019s global influence will dwindle unless a new Catholic wave reverses current trends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":227580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[988,260,210,305],"tags":[1042,1297,2276,753,937],"class_list":["post-227793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-geopolitics","category-highlights","category-magazine","category-politics","tag-diplomacy","tag-gis","tag-historical-events","tag-religion","tag-vatican-city"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227793"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":227808,"href":"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227793\/revisions\/227808"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}