Vatican City:
The Vatican’s foreign minister congratulated US President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday, while expressing doubt that the Republican had a “magic wand” to quickly end conflicts promised during the campaign.
“We wish him much wisdom because that is the chief virtue of leaders according to the Bible,” Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Rome.
Asked about Trump’s promise to end the war in Ukraine “within 24 hours,” Parolin replied: “Let’s hope, let’s hope. I don’t think even he has a magic wand.”
“To end war requires a lot of humility, a lot of will is needed, it is really necessary to seek the general interests of humanity rather than concentrating on particular interests,” he said.
To overcome divisions in American society, Parolin said he hoped Trump would become “the president of the entire country.”
He also hoped that he would be “a factor in reducing tension… in the current conflicts that are bloodying the world.”
Parolin’s comments were the first diplomatic reaction from the Holy See to Trump’s White House win over Democrat Kamala Harris.
Pope Francis has not reacted.
In September, the Argentine pope criticized both candidates, accusing them of being “anti-life” in different ways: for Harris’s support for abortion and for Trump’s anti-migrant policies.
During his first term in the White House, in May 2017, Trump was received by the Pope at the Vatican for a half-hour meeting.
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