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Obama said he was 'incredibly moved' by a discussion with the pope on poverty. But the Vatican said the talk centered on church issues in the US, such as funding contraception through Obamacare.
President Obama met with Pope Francis for the first time on Thursday at the Vatican and appeared to enjoy the occasion. He and the pontiff exchanged a warm handshake, smiles, and nods when greeting each other outside the Papal Library in the Apostolic Palace.
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Wonderful meeting you, Mr. Obama said. Thank you, sir, thank you.
Accompanied by interpreters, the pair moved inside the library and sat on opposite sides of the popes desk, according to a White House pool report.
It is a great honor. Im a great admirer. Thank you so much for receiving me, said the US president.
Obama has good reason to enjoy a papal audience, of course. For one thing, he gets to associate with a world-renowned figure whose poll ratings are higher than his own.
Plus, parts of Pope Franciss agenda mesh nicely with Obamas political message for the 2014 US midterm elections. The pontiff has warned against the hubris of wealth and the dangers of ignoring the worlds poor and marginalized citizens. Obama and the Democrats, meanwhile, have been focusing on income inequality and the need to raise the US minimum wage.
But the course of US-Vatican relations has not always run smooth. For the White House, popes are not allies in a geopolitical sense, and they often talk about difficult issues, such as abortion or birth control.
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Obama, Pope Francis, and the (rocky) history of US-Vatican relations
Face to face for the first time, President Barack Obama and Pope Francis focused publicly on their mutual respect and shared concern for the poor on Thursday. But their lengthy private discussion also highlighted the deep differences between the White House and the Catholic Church on abortion and birth control.
The gaps were evident in the differing accounts Obama and the Vatican gave of the meeting, with Obama stressing the two leaders' common ground on fighting inequality and poverty while Vatican officials emphasized the importance to the church of "rights to religious freedom, life and conscientious objection." That point by church officials referred to a major disagreement over a provision of Obama's health care law.
The meeting inside the grand headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church marked a symbolic high point of Obama's three-country visit to Europe. For a president whose approval ratings have slipped since winning re-election, it was also an opportunity to link himself to the hugely popular pope and his focus on fighting poverty.
"Those of us as politicians have the task of trying to come up with policies to address issues," Obama said following the meeting. "But His Holiness has the capacity to open people's eyes and make sure they're seeing that this is an issue."
The president said the plight of the poor and marginalized was a central topic in their talks, along with Middle East peace, conflicts in Syria and the treatment of Christians around the world. Social issues, he said, were not discussed in detail.
However, the Vatican left out any reference to inequality issues in its description of the meeting. In a written statement, church officials instead said discussions among not only the pope and president but also their top aides centered on questions of particular relevance for the church leaders in the U.S., making veiled references both to abortion and a contraception mandate in Obama's health care law, which is under review by the Supreme Court.
For Obama, the meeting with the pope marked a departure from the intense focus on the situation in Ukraine, which dominated his first three days in Europe.
The president's motorcade snaked through the narrow streets of Rome Thursday morning, passing thick crowds near the entrance to the Vatican. Obama and members of his delegation were joined by Vatican officials for a slow processional through the frescoed Clementine Hall, where Swiss Guards stood watch in their brightly colored uniforms designed by Michelangelo.
Obama and Francis, two of the world's most recognizable men, both appeared nervous as they shook hands before entering the Papal Library.
"I'm a great admirer," Obama said to the smiling pope. The two men then sat across from each other at a wooden desk for a private meeting that lasted 52 minutes, well beyond the half-hour that had been scheduled.
Originally posted here:
Obama said he was 'incredibly moved' by a discussion with the pope on poverty. But the Vatican said the talk centered on church issues in the US, such as funding contraception through Obamacare.
President Obama met with Pope Francis for the first time on Thursday at the Vatican and appeared to enjoy the occasion. He and the pontiff exchanged a warm handshake, smiles, and nods when greeting each other outside the Papal Library in the Apostolic Palace.
Subscribe Today to the Monitor
Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition
Wonderful meeting you, Mr. Obama said. Thank you, sir, thank you.
Accompanied by interpreters, the pair moved inside the library and sat on opposite sides of the popes desk, according to a White House pool report.
It is a great honor. Im a great admirer. Thank you so much for receiving me, said the US president.
Obama has good reason to enjoy a papal audience, of course. For one thing, he gets to associate with a world-renowned figure whose poll ratings are higher than his own.
Plus, parts of Pope Franciss agenda mesh nicely with Obamas political message for the 2014 US midterm elections. The pontiff has warned against the hubris of wealth and the dangers of ignoring the worlds poor and marginalized citizens. Obama and the Democrats, meanwhile, have been focusing on income inequality and the need to raise the US minimum wage.
But the course of US-Vatican relations has not always run smooth. For the White House, popes are not allies in a geopolitical sense, and they often talk about difficult issues, such as abortion or birth control.
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Obama, Pope Francis, and the (rocky) history of US-Vatican relations (+video)
Politics U.S.-Russia Relations
President Barack Obama on Wednesday called on Europe and the U.S. to stand firm against Russias annexation of Crimea, warning that a failure to push back against Russias illegal action would undermine a century of international progress.
Delivering remarks on the U.S.-European relationship at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels on the third day of his international trip, Obama framed the Ukraine crisis as a conflict between self-determination and might. But he rejected the notion that recent events are the beginning of another global struggle.
This is not another Cold War that were entering into, he said in his 36-minute address. After all, unlike the Soviet Union, Russia leads no bloc of nations, no global ideology. The United States and NATO do not seek any conflict with Russia. In fact, for more than 60 years we have come together in NATO not to claim other lands but to keep nations free.
Russias leadership is challenging truths that only a few weeks ago seemed self-evident, that in the 21st century, the borders of Europe cannot be redrawn with force, that international law matters, that people and nations can make their own decisions about their future, he continued, emphasizing that there is no military solution to the situation in Crimea.
Obama acknowledged that both in Europe and the U.S., many may doubt the impact of Russias actions in Ukraine, but cautioned that casual indifference would send a dangerous message to the world.
To be honest, if we define our interests narrowly, if we applied a coldhearted calculus, we might decide to look the other way, Obama said. But that kind of casual indifference would ignore the lessons that are written in the cemeteries of this continent.
Over the course of his foreign trip, Obama has worked to marshal European allies to embrace the prospect of sanctioning the Russian economy if its government doesnt change course an action that could cost the global economy as well as Russia. Earlier on Wednesday, Obama and E.U. leaders met to discuss the potential for additional sanctions, with the E.U. pledging to move with the U.S. if Russia further escalates the situation in Ukraine.
Addressing Russias comparison of its move on Ukraine with U.S. actions in Iraq, Obama defended the U.S.s handling of that war, saying that even though he did not support it, it was completely different.
Even in Iraq, America sought to work within the international system, Obama said. We did not claim or annex Iraqs territory. We did not grab its resources for our own gain. Instead, we ended our war and left Iraq to its people in a fully sovereign Iraqi state that can make decisions about its own future.
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