Matthew Santucci

B.A. Fordham | M.A. LUISS |

[Matthew Santucci @tucci1925]

My latest for The Diplomat. The Geopolitics of the Renewed Sino-Vatican Deal:

https://t.co/w20LfXKKXJ

[Joshua Charles🇻🇦 @JoshuaTCharles]

“To eliminate suffering entirely would mean, in the end, extinguishing love and desire as well. Those who love and desire cannot avoid passing through trial and suffering; and over the years, we carry within us lessons that leave their mark like scars, the memories of a journey shaped by freedom and failure, dreams and disappointments.

It is only thanks to the interplay of these elements that the wonders of the soul occur within us, allowing us to sense the richness of our humanity.

To renounce this adventure, both tragic and splendid, in the name of a presumed transcendence of all limits, could mean many things, but it would no longer be human.”

Pope Leo XIV, Magnifica Humanitas (par. 120) (May 15, 2026)

[Zak Slayback @zslayback]

Wake up babe, the Vatican is making better launch videos than tech startups

[Matthew Santucci @tucci1925]

@WhiteHouse @POTUS 😣

[Matthew Santucci @tucci1925]

Raw sounds from Nürburgring 24 Hours

[Mark Mantis @TheGhostSleepi1]

One thing that convinces me that modern leftism is the spiritual heir to puritanism is that they are so evil & joyless they would do away with all of this in favour of a random guy in a suit giving some powerpoint presentation in a grey conference hall.

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

It's funny how China always announces official visits at the last minute.

It's always been like that, especially with the U.S. If you read Kissinger, he explains that he and Nixon would already be **in Beijing** and still didn't know if they'd meet Mao.

A hilarious episode is how they landed with Nixon in Beijing in February 1972, with zero confirmation they'd actually get to meet Mao because - in the writings of Winston Lord (who was there) - "the schedule was never fixed until the last minute" (https://t.co/IgKSWIfzXB). As he explains "this was partly intended to keep us off balance, and partly to make us feel grateful when the actual meeting took place and that it did take place."

Kissinger himself wrote that he saw Mao five times and that "on each occasion [he] was summoned suddenly, just as Nixon was" (https://t.co/FWq3sz1NlR).

That time in 1972, shortly after the U.S. delegation arrived at the official guesthouse in Beijing, Zhou Enlai popped in to announce to Kissinger that Mao wanted to see Nixon "right away." Kissinger immediately went to fetch Nixon whom he found with his clothes off, about to take a shower (https://t.co/SDXekGUHr6). Nixon urgently put his clothes back on and was whisked away in a Red Army car, accompanied by only Kissinger and Winston Lord, without any Secret Service agents.

Bob Haldeman, Nixon's chief of staff, wrote in his diary at the time: “you wonder what's going on when you have the Red Army surrounding the president” (https://t.co/SDXekGUHr6).

When they got to Zhongnanhai, the official residence of the Chinese leadership, they were very surprised by the modesty of the place. As Kissinger describes in On China (https://t.co/SGWJ5BKzyk), Mao's residence looked "no different" from any other official's housing, "had no visible guards or other appurtenances of power" and had "a small anteroom almost completely dominated by a Ping-Pong table."

In another writing, Kissinger describes Mao's residence as "simple and unimposing; it could have belonged to a minor functionary. No special security measures were apparent" (https://t.co/FWq3sz1NlR).

Meeting Mao, however, left Kissinger - a man not easily impressed, who had sparred with every 20th century leader of consequence - essentially awestruck. He wrote that he "met no one, with the possible exception of Charles de Gaulle, who so distilled raw, concentrated willpower... He dominated the room - not by the pomp that in most states confers a degree of majesty on the leaders, but by exuding in almost tangible form the overwhelming drive to prevail" (https://t.co/FWq3sz1NlR).

Not sure how this particular meeting between Trump and Xi will go down but I like the idea of Trump being interrupted in his shower to be whisked away in a PLA car and sent to Zhongnanhai without any security detail. Would be a badly needed humble pie.

[MB @paxangloceltae]

So, as I was saying, The King is the best diplomat we have - much like his mother, the late Queen, was during her reign. No politician could come close to achieving what Monarchy can.

Thank God for our constitutional monarchy. God Save the King!

[Ian @rioghbhardain]

I have a lot of respect and admiration for The King. He is w/o any doubt the most interesting, intellectually curious, well-educated and forward-thinking head of state in the world. He also stands out for being exceptionally hard-working, even after his cancer diagnosis.

[CiDevoPensareAncora @YoStoConTarabas]

Italians culture is pensare “passo sopra alle strisce almeno se mi investono mi pagano" ogni volta che si attraversa la strada.

[Lu @vi_dico]

Si chiama tasto per la segnalazione luminosa di pericolo, in Italia è usato per parcheggiare in mezzo alla strada e andare al bar.

[Matthew Santucci @tucci1925]

Springtime in Rome

[Christine Niles @ChristineNiles1]

Those justifying the Israeli police's actions this morning: Please note that synagogues in Jerusalem remained OPEN to small crowds.

Israeli military wartime rules restrict crowds to 50. This applies to Jerusalem.

Cardinal Pizzaballa's entourage consisted of four people, in full compliance with the rules.

[Antonio Tajani @Antonio_Tajani]

Voglio esprimere la mia più sentita solidarietà al Patriarca di Gerusalemme, cardinale Pierbattista Pizzaballa, capo della Chiesa Cattolica in Terra Santa, e al Custode di Terra Santa, padre Francesco Ielpo,
È inaccettabile aver loro impedito di entrare nella Chiesa del Santo Sepolcro a Gerusalemme.
Per la prima volta, la polizia israeliana ha negato ai vertici della Chiesa Cattolica la possibilità di celebrare la Messa della domenica delle Palme in uno dei luoghi più sacri per milioni di fedeli nel mondo.
Ho dato immediate istruzioni al nostro Ambasciatore in Israele di esprimere alle autorità di Tel Aviv la protesta del governo e confermare la posizione italiana a tutela , sempre ed in ogni circostanza, della libertà di religione.

[Emmanuel Macron @EmmanuelMacron]

J’apporte mon plein soutien au patriarche latin de Jérusalem et aux chrétiens de Terre Sainte, empêchés de célébrer la messe des Rameaux au Saint-Sépulcre.

Je condamne cette décision de la police israélienne, qui s’ajoute à la multiplication préoccupante des violations du statut des Lieux Saints de Jérusalem.

Le libre exercice du culte à Jérusalem doit être garanti pour toutes les religions.

[Antonio Tajani @Antonio_Tajani]

Ho dato indicazione di convocare domani al ministero degli Esteri l’ambasciatore di Israele per avere chiarimenti sulla decisione di impedire al cardinale Pizzaballa la celebrazione della domenica delle Palme.

[Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem @LPJerusalem]

بيان مشترك من البطريركية اللاتينية في القدس وحراسة الأراضي المقدسة.

Joint Press Release: The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Custody of the Holy Land.

https://t.co/ujB3t50j67

[European LibCon 🇪🇺🗽🦅 @pl_european]

🇮🇹 Meloni: "Preventing the Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Custodian of the Holy Land from entering, especially on a solemnity as central to the faith as Palm Sunday, constitutes an offense not only to believers, but to every community that recognizes religious freedom"

[Greg Price @greg_price11]

1789 France resulted in a military dictatorship followed by the restoration of a monarchy.

[Jordanreviewsittt @jordanreviewsit]

>be born in the 50s and 60s
>get a paper route to save for college
>nice, tuition is only $200 a semester
>graduate and get real job by giving firm handshake
>buy a house which is only 2x your salary
>work at same company for 40 years
>retire with a pension
>become a shareholder and get rid of pensions (stock price goes brrr)
>home “value” goes up 1,700%
>make no upgrades, refuse to sell under asking to new family; sell to Blackrock instead
>lecture every subsequent generation about work ethic