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Pride flag at U.S. Embassy to the Holy SeeU.S. in Holy See / Twitter

VATICAN CITY, June 1, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — The United States Embassy to the Holy See is flying a colorful flag this month, but it’s not Old Glory. Today the U.S. Embassy to the Vatican announced over Twitter that it is celebrating “Pride Month” by exhibiting the bright rainbow stripes of the gay liberation movement.

Tweeting a photo of the flag hanging from the balcony of its building in Rome, an Embassy representative wrote, “The U.S. Embassy to the Holy See celebrates #PrideMonth with the Pride flag on display during the month of June. The United States respects the dignity and equality of LGBTQI+ people. LGBTQI+ rights are human rights.”

Not only are homosexual sex acts considered grave sins by the Catholic Church, whose earthly leader Pope Francis is also the monarch of Vatican City. The Catholic Church has also taught for millennia that pride is the worst of the seven deadly sins.

The U.S. Embassy to the Holy See is not itself in Vatican City, but in the same compound as the U.S. Embassy to the Italian Republic on the Aventine Hill in Rome, near the exclusive Via Veneto. Nevertheless, the choice to fly a flag representing sexual licence in the face of the Vatican may seem undiplomatic.

American Catholic children's author John McNichol told LifeSiteNews that he believes flying the pride flag is a blatant show of disrespect for the Catholic Church.

“I am thoroughly disgusted. In my opinion, given the Catholic faith's stance on homosexual activity, such an action has less in common with attaining and promoting equal rights for people than it does a slap in the face to the Catholic faith for its stances,” McNichol stated via social media.

“It is, regrettably, an action typical of the current American administration's hostility to authentic Catholicism,” he continued. “What is most troubling is that the minions of the Democratic party now feel comfortable in giving the proverbial finger to the Vatican. I cannot think of another group or nation who would be so blatantly targeted and openly disrespected for its views or policies. Is the Biden administration going to fly the flag of Amnesty International, Free Tibet, or other such symbols at the American embassies in China? Methinks not …”

Additionally, a former Canadian ambassador told LifeSiteNews that the U.S. Embassy’s intended audience is not the Holy See but the folks back home.

“Modern diplomacy is increasingly a hall of mirrors, in which the idea is to reflect approved messages back at the home audience,” David Mulroney told LifeSiteNews via social media.

“Just as Chinese Wolf Warrior diplomats craft their messages for the leadership in Beijing, American, Canadian, British and other ‘progressive’ diplomats are aiming their activities at their fellow progressives back home,” he continued. “The host country, in this case the Holy See, merely provides an exotic backdrop.”

Mulroney, a career diplomat, was Canada’s ambassador to the People’s Republic of China between 2009 and 2012.

Currently there is no American ambassador to the Holy See. After Callista Gringrich stepped down from the post in January of this year, diplomat Patrick Connell began to serve as the interim Chargé d’Affairs. Connell had served as Deputy Chief of Mission since July 2020.

Meanwhile, Twitter users have been wondering if American embassies in countries where Muslims form the majority of the population will also fly the homosexual pride flag.

“Is the embassy in Saudi Arabia hanging a pride flag?” asked a pseudonymous man identifying as a Catholic and former American soldier.

“Try do it in Saudi Arabia and see what happens,” urged Franz Mendelssohn.

“The United States has no respect for the religious convictions of Christians,” tweeted Gary Lyles before “Rasser”, a “libertarian conservative,” corrected him, tweeting, “The Biden administration.”

Contact Patrick Connell at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See

Mr. Patrick Connell
Via Sallustiana, 49
00187 Rome, Italy

Telephone: +39 06 4674-1