By Francis X. Rocca
Religion News Service
VATICAN CITY — President Bush received an especially warm welcome from Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on Friday (June 13), as the two leaders met for the third time in little more than a year.
Instead of receiving his guest in the papal apartments, as protocol ordinarily dictates, Benedict greeted the president and first lady Laura Bush at the entrance to the Tower of St. John, a restored medieval structure in the Vatican gardens.
The two men spoke privately in the tower for half an hour, then strolled through the gardens to the Grotto of Lourdes, where the first lady joined them for two hymns performed by the Sistine Chapel boys’ choir.
The Vatican said the “cordial talks” focused on “the president’s commitment in defense of fundamental moral values,” U.S.-European relations, the Middle East, the global food crisis and efforts to combat poverty.
The Vatican press office said the highly personal “special protocol” was a gesture of thanks for the “cordiality of the welcome” when Benedict visited the U.S. in April. Bush personally met the pope at Andrews Air Force Base–the only time the president has met a foreign leader on the tarmac.
“I think (the pope) was really very moved by the outpouring of warmth from the American people, both Catholics and non-Catholics who revere the pope as someone, you know, with unquestionable moral authority,” Laura Bush told reporters traveling on Air Force One.
Bush’s avowed admiration for the pope and his embrace of Catholic social teaching on such controversial issues as abortion, stem-cell research, and same-sex marriage have fueled speculation that the president himself might embrace the Catholic faith.
Those same rumors swirled around Rome on Friday.
“According to Washington voices, the president, a Methodist Christian, could be on the verge of converting to Catholicism” like former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, wrote Ignazio Ingrao in the popular Italian newsweekly Panorama. Some Washington observers have contrasted Bush’s affinity for Catholic social teaching with the more liberal agenda of the nation’s first and only Catholic president, John F. Kennedy.
Bush’s staff, however, promptly denied the rumors.
“It is not true,” White House Press Secretary Dana Perino told Religion News Service. “He has often, in jest, been called the first Catholic president–but he’s not planning to convert.”
Copyright 2008 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.
posted June 13, 2008 at 5:36 pm
“I think (the pope) was really very moved by the outpouring of warmth from the American people, both Catholics and non-Catholics who revere the pope as someone, you know, with unquestionable moral authority,” Laura Bush told reporters (emphasis mine)
I don’t know which “you” she is referring to. It is certainly not me nor most of the people I know.
Peace!
P.S. I so much what to have respect for him because of his office and the presumption that any human that becomes Pope be wise. However, his lack of compassion, lack of respect for females, lack of respect for lgbt people and obvious desire/intent to perpetuate many, many, centuries of prejudice, discrimination, and bigotry prevent me form holding him in high regard.
posted June 13, 2008 at 5:38 pm
“I think (the pope) was really very moved by the outpouring of warmth from the American people, both Catholics and non-Catholics who revere the pope as someone, you know, with unquestionable moral authority,” Laura Bush told reporters (emphasis mine)
I don’t know which “you” she is referring to. It is certainly not me nor most of the people I know.
Peace!
P.S. I so much what to have respect for him because of his office and the presumption that any human that becomes Pope be wise. However, his lack of compassion, lack of respect for females, lack of respect for lgbt people and obvious desire/intent to perpetuate many, many, centuries of prejudice, discrimination, and bigotry prevent me form holding him in high regard.
posted June 13, 2008 at 8:00 pm
They get along so well because they both agree on…no abortion rights, no embryonic stem cell research, and no same gender marriages. Wow, they’re both 2 people I do not admire one bit…and wouldn’t it be interesting if “W” did convert? They deserve each other.
posted June 13, 2008 at 11:15 pm
So Laura thinks the Pope has unquestionable moral authority? I’ve tried to think better of her. Does she not know he’s the one who ordered the coverup of the molestation? Does she not know he’s only safe from prosecution in the US because he’s a “head of state”? Or does she not, perhaps, care?
posted June 13, 2008 at 11:51 pm
It’s nice W can get away fr a while. So, can someone convince B16 to keep him there until January?
posted June 14, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Good idea, jestrfyl. No one would even know he wasn’t in this country.
posted June 15, 2008 at 11:56 am
Happy Fathers Day to all the Dads posting here!
posted June 15, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Thank you Henrietta. It’s been one.
posted June 16, 2008 at 11:36 am
I am sure the moment was as warm and overflowing with emotion as a glacier filling a fjord.
So, do you think there are t-shirts for W’s farewell Tour of the Middle East and Europe? I can suggest a subttle, “Don’t let the Door Hit You on Your Way Out”
posted June 16, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Anti-Catholic sentiment…surprise, surprise.
posted June 16, 2008 at 12:38 pm
More anti-W than anti-B16. I guess I am simply appreciating the chill of the event on a hot late Spring day.
posted June 16, 2008 at 1:12 pm
jramone I’d have said anti-Pope Ben and anti-W of course. Do you equate this pope with the RCC? Perhaps that’s a reasonable reaction but there are a lot of Catholics wiser than this pope wants them to be. Do you consider them bad Catholics?
posted June 16, 2008 at 3:10 pm
What did Lady Laura do while the men talked alone, privately in the Tower?
The rest of Europe, as I read in an article, took this last visit with a yawn, just not too interested.
posted June 17, 2008 at 12:43 am
Perhaps like Madame LeFarge, she was knitting while W and b16 did their man-business.