US asks for Vatican’s support to shut Guantanamo down

In an hour-long meeting with Cardinal Parolin, the US Secretary of State, John Kerry expressed a desire for “the Holy See’s assistance in seeking adequate humanitarian solutions for current inmates”

VATICAN INSIDER

At a meeting with the Vatican Secretary fo State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, expressed a desire for the Holy See’s assistance in “seeking adequate humanitarian solutions” for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison. The meeting took place today in the Vatican and lasted an hour.

It was in 2008 that Barack Obama first expressed his intention to close the maximum-security detention facility, which his predecessor George W. Bush opened at the Guantanamo Bay US naval base in Cuba, in 2002. The prison was opened for the purpose of detaining – in questionable conditions –individuals captured in Afghanistan and other countries and accused of acts of terrorism. Mr. Obama’s plans never materialised, partly due to opposition from the US Senate.

Late this morning, the Vatican spokesman, Fr. Federico Lombardi issued a statement saying: “A meeting was held in the Vatican this morning, between the Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin and the US Secretary of State, John Kerry. The US was represented by the Ambassador to the Holy See and two members of the Secretary of State’s staff while the Vatican was represented by three Curia officials who were experts on the issues discussed.”

During the course of the hour-long meeting, which ran from 9:30 am to 10:30 am, “the main issues discussed were the situation in the Middle East, US efforts to prevent the worsening of tensions and the explosion of violence and efforts to help re-establish negotiations between Israel and Palestine,” the director of the Holy See Press Office said. “The US commitment to the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison was also illustrated and the desire expressed for the Holy See’s assistance in seeking adequate humanitarian solutions for current inmates.”

Naturally, the idea of bringing them to the Vatican City State is out of the question. No details were given regarding the proposal which the US probably made in the hope that the Holy See could use its large network of diplomatic connections to persuade other countries to take on the responsibility of welcoming the alleged terrorists in their detention facilities. All Fr. Lombardi was willing to add was that the Holy See “looked upon” the closure of the maximum-security prison at Guantanamo Bay “favourably”.

“There was not enough time to discuss other matters in greater depth. Therefore issues such as the situation in Ukraine and its prospects and the Ebola emergency, were only touched upon briefly,” the Vatican spokesman added.

This was the second time that the head of US diplomacy was received by the Pope’s right-hand man, Parolin, on one of his visits to Rome. Kerry met Parolin for the first time last January when the two spoke about the Middle East – Syria in particular – and Africa, focusing on the Church’s role in South Sudan. They also talked about Cuba and the role of Catholics in the United States.

Today the Vatican Secretary of State also received the Croatian member of the Collegial Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dragan Čović, after the latter attended an audience with the Pope. Tomorrow, the Secretary of State will receive Nicolas Hulot, a special envoy of the French President François Hollande, ahead of the upcoming conference on climate change that will be taking place in Paris in 2015.