ROME — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s opposition to a controversial Vatican deal with China is a mere “tactical difference” between partners, U.S. officials said following his visit to the Holy See.

“The Vatican’s playing the long game when it comes to human rights and religious liberty,” a senior State Department official told reporters Thursday. “Tactical agreements and tactical differences will come and go, but the broader strategic vision, the United States and the Vatican are in lockstep and have been for generations, and will be for generations to come, I think.”