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| - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on Monday to Vatican leaders about ways forward in crisis-torn Venezuela as he became the first senior official under President Joe Biden to meet Pope Francis. Blinken had a private, 40-minute audience with the Argentine pope that came as some US bishops are pressuring Biden, a devout Catholic, over his support for abortion rights. The top US diplomat also met Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Gallagher, who handles foreign relations for the Holy See, and discussed hotspots including Venezuela, Syria, Lebanon, Belarus and Ethiopia, the State Department said. Blinken "reiterated US support for a return to democracy in Venezuela and our desire to help the Venezuelan people rebuild their country," State Department spokesman Ned Price said. The church plays a key role in Venezuela, where the Biden administration has taken a more low-key diplomatic approach to that of Donald Trump. The former president imposed sweeping sanctions and threatened force to depose President Nicolas Maduro, a leftist who presides over a crumbling economy. The Biden administration has kept Trump's stance that Maduro is illegitimate and still backs opposition leader Juan Guaido but has said it will emphasise cooperation with allies over further ramping up of economic pressure. The church played a behind-the-scenes role to support former president Barack Obama, under whom Biden was vice president, when he moved to ease decades of hostility with Cuba. The State Department said Blinken also discussed three issues on which Biden has found common cause with Francis -- migration, climate change and expanding access to Covid-19 vaccines. Francis had questioned Trump's push to seal off Mexico with a wall and supports a more compassionate approach towards refugees. Blinken also spoke to the Vatican about "human rights and religious freedom" in China, Price said. Blinken's predecessor Mike Pompeo, an evangelical Protestant, took the unusual step of openly criticising the Vatican over a 2018 agreement with China that gave the officially atheist state some say in choosing bishops. The pope last year declined to meet Pompeo, concerned about being seen as showing support close to an election, although he met him in 2019. Blinken, a secular Jew, was escorted through the Sistine Chapel by a guide who offered a description of each fresco, which Blinken stopped to admire. "The spiritual atmosphere, the divine art, and the impressive architecture left me speechless. Truly stunning," Blinken wrote on Twitter. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the pope's meeting with Blinken took place in a "friendly atmosphere", adding that the pontiff expressed "his affection and attention to the people of the United States" and recalled his 2015 visit there. Francis has earlier spoken by telephone with Biden, who is the second Catholic US president and attends Mass at least once a week. Biden this month came under pressure from US bishops who agreed to draft a statement that could potentially deny the holy communion -- one of the most sacred rituals in the church -- to any US leader who supports abortion rights. Biden says he personally opposes abortion but, like most of his Democratic Party, supports the right to choose guaranteed in a 1973 Supreme Court decision that remains deeply divisive in US politics. sct/pbr
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