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Pope Benedict and Barack Obama discuss abortion, the economy, and Middle East peace
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President Barack Obama shakes hands with Pope Benedict XVI
at the Vatican. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)
On July 10, U.S. President Barack Obama met with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican. According to Vatican press reports, topics discussed included the global economic crisis, abortion, the Middle East peace process, and immigration. Also discussed during the 36-minute closed-door meeting were issues of food security, development aid for Africa and Latin America, outreach to Muslim communities, and the problem of drug trafficking.
The meeting came on the heels of the G8 summit in Italy and the release of the pope’s major social encyclical, “Caritas in Veritate.” When the pope inquired about the summit, Obama responded that it was “very productive” and cited 20 billion dollars allocated to poor nations.
The two parties also touched upon the difficult issue of abortion. This is an area where the U.S. Bishops have been strongly critical of Obama, going so far as to attack Notre Dame for allowing Obama to speak there in May. Yet the Vatican seems to be more receptive to Obama. When Obama won the presidential election last year, Pope Benedict phoned to congratulate him, foregoing the Vatican's usual protocol of waiting until the president-elect’s inauguration. After his controversial address at Notre Dame, the official Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, praised Obama’s “search for a common ground” regarding the issue of abortion. And, following today’s meeting, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi, S.J., stated that Obama “reiterated his commitment to reducing the incidence of abortion.”
Yet the issue remains a divisive one between Benedict and Obama, and the pope did not miss a chance to send a strongly pro-life message, giving Obama an “unannounced gift”—a copy of the 2008 document "Dignitas Personae" on bioethics and the right to life.
Interestingly, today a new poll revealed that Americans are increasingly pro-life. According to the poll, undertaken by the Knights of Columbus in partnership with the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, about 49 percent of Americans now describe themselves as pro-life, while 60 percent think abortion should be legal only in a few circumstances or not at all. According to the Knights of Columbus/Marist poll, 86 percent of Americans would significantly restrict abortion.
In a televised appearance after their meeting, First Lady Michelle Obama joined her husband and the pope for the traditional exchange of gifts, and Obama introduced his two daughters and mother-in-law to the Pontiff. President Obama gave Pope Benedict a stole that had been draped upon the body of American St. John Neumann. The pope gave the president a mosaic portraying St. Peter’s Square and the Vatican Basilica, as well as an autographed copy of his new encyclical “Caritas in Veritate.”
Upon receiving the encyclical, Obama joked “I will have something to read on the plane.”
As Obama departed, the pope said: “I’ll pray for you. I’ll pray for your work.”
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