By the time this is posted, President Obama and Pope Benedict XVI will be sitting down for their first face-to-face meeting – highly anticipated by both political and Church watchers, to say the least, especially in the context of the release of Caritas in Veritate three days ago.
Leading up to the meeting, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told the traveling press that the president anticipates “frank discussion” on issues he and the pope don’t agree upon. Whispers in the Loggia quotes the exchange, in which Gibbs yet stressed a “common ground” approach that can be taken on issues such as outreach to the Muslim world or reducing nuclear arms.
Knights of Columbus leader Carl Anderson told CNA that he’s hopeful the meeting will be a “wonderful opportunity” for both sides of the Vatican-U.S. relationship and, in particular, a significant teaching moment for Pope Benedict.
It’s a chance for the Holy Father to “make clear why the Church’s teaching covers a broad spectrum,” Anderson said, “why it arises from a consistent ethic and a consistent view of the person, and why it is that those in public policy, such as the president, whether he’s a Democrat or a Republican, should try to understand the foundation for the Church’s teaching.”
