With the imminent and unexpected departureof Joseph Donnelly as the US Ambassador to the Holy See, it seems likely the post will be vacant for a while. It would make little sense to try to ram through a nominee before the US election in November, and afterwards it can take a new (or returning) administration six months, or more, to work its way down to the Vatican post on the list of federal jobs to fill.
As a result, we have a cesura, a pregnant pause, which could provide a moment to rethink the US's approach to whom it sends as its envoy to the Vatican.
