“It’s Another Manifestation of the Antipathy of This Administration Both to Catholics and to the Vatican”

He promised to fundamentally transform this country, he's delivering on that promise on many fronts:

The Obama administration has decided that the free-standing American embassy to the Holy See will soon be closed, and the offices for the Ambassador to the Vatican will be moved inside of our Italian Embassy.

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Moving our Ambassador to the Vatican inside of our Italian Embassy sends a clear message: the diplomatic post doesn’t matter much to the United States.

Yesterday we spoke with former Vatican Ambassador James Nicholson. He wanted us to tell CV readers:

“It’s another manifestation of the antipathy of this administration both to Catholics and to the Vatican – and to Christians in the Middle East. This is a key post for intermediation in so many sovereignties but particularly in the Middle East. This is anything but a good time to diminish the stature of this post. To diminish the stature of this post is to diminish its influence.

“The State Department has for a long time wanted to do this. It came up when I was an ambassador. I explained the folly of this and it went away. But now they seem determined to do this. The perception is [with this action] that the United States is showing a lack of appreciation for the relevance of its diplomatic partner in the Vatican.”

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Why the snub?

Simple: anti-family groups hate the Vatican. On the international stage, the Vatican is a fierce proponent of religious freedom, the dignity of all human life, and the traditional family. And the Holy See has vigorously opposed the pro-abortion imperialism pushed by Planned Parenthood and others for decades.

These radical pro-abortion groups have responded by launching a campaign called “See Change” calling for the removal of the Holy See as a member of the United Nations. It’s no secret they want the Vatican’s role in the world diminished, discredited, and ultimately disregarded.

This is likely in part payback for the strong stance taken by American Bishops against the HHS Mandate.

Dear Leader can't be opposed so vociferously.