Title: BRIC by BRIC, the foundation for Pope’s geopolitical endgame is being laid [News Analysis]
Source: Crux
Link: cruxnow DOT com/news-analysis/2023/08/bric-by-bric-the-foundation-for-popes-geopolitical-endgame-is-being-laid
The Money-Quotes:
In the future, August 2023 may come to be see as a turning point in paving the way for Vatican relations with both China and Saudi Arabia, and, more broadly, in the Vatican’s transition away from being perceived as a pillar of Western civilization to being a genuinely global and non-aligned institution, as equidistant from Washington and Brussels as from Moscow and Beijing.
By all accounts, China under Xi Jinping was the driving force behind the BRICS expansion, as a key expression of its overall strategic aim of countering Western control of the global economy and major world institutions. China’s aspiration is to build a more multilateral world order, one not exclusively denominated in dollars and not dominated by the United States.
As it happens, that vision dovetails fairly neatly with Pope Francis’s agenda for global affairs. In a recent interview, the pope described himself as a “stone in the shoe” to many for his criticism of empires — and, since he was speaking in the context of Latin America, it was fairly clear which “empire” in particular he had in mind.
Increasingly, China may come to see the Vatican under Francis as an ally in the effort to build an alternative to the Western world order. Naturally, the pope’s willingness to sign and stand by a controversial agreement with China over the appointment of bishops in the country, despite difficulties in its application, augments the impression of common cause, as does the rough alignment between Rome and Beijing on the conflict in Ukraine.
Moreover, a BRICS coalition containing not just Brazil but also Argentina may be in a stronger position to make the case to Xi that the Catholic Church, and specifically the Vatican, can be an asset at least as much as an irritant. Lula, a close friend and political ally of Francis, may be in a particularly strong position to help press that argument.
[…]
[F]rom the Vatican’s point of view in the Pope Francis era, the BRICS growth is hopeful not only as a harbinger of a more multilateral world, but also one in which the final holdouts on diplomatic relations with the Holy See may finally be induced to come on board — because, under Francis, a gain for the Vatican is no longer necessarily seen as a gain for the West, and certainly not for the U.S.
