In a poll carried out by Catholic Arena, 97% of almost 700 Catholics have stated that they want the US Ambassador to the Holy See expelled for his provocative and insulting hanging of the Pride flag at their embassy.
The current person in that role, Patrick Connell, is not the permanent ambassador, but the Chargé d'Affaires, until a permanent one is established to replace Callista Gingrich.
Connell is no part player in this attack to embarrass Catholics, his Twitter feed retweeted all of the provocative images that were shared yesterday on the outrageous Holy See account such as the one below.
Bizarrely , he also like tweets stating such things as ‘The Secretary stressed the importance of efforts to counter harmful influence from Russia and China in the region’. It is not Russia or China hanging Pride flags in the Vatican while not doing so in Riyadh, it is the United States of America. A once respected nation is now regarded as deliberately provocative, cruel and vindictive towards Catholics, not all people of faith, but Catholics.
We reached out to the Embassy with the following questions for comment, but as of yet had not received reply.
1) Why have you chosen to fly the flag in this manner in the Holy See but not in the Riyadh?
2) Do you think that it perpetuates the long history of anti Catholicism that the United States is known for?
3) Do you think that it perpetuates the long history of cultural insensitivity that the United States is also known for?
You can see Mr. Connell’s Twitter feed here.
It is not known if the Vatican will respond to the concerns of Catholics, but with a whole month of this insulting and thuggish behaviour left, they might have to as anger over this disrespect continues to build.
