c. 2007 Religion News Service
VATICAN CITY _ When President Bush visits Rome Saturday (June 9), he will pay respects to the president and prime minister of Italy and spend time with an old friend, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
But the president’s most significant encounter in the Eternal City will undoubtedly be his half-hour with Pope Benedict XVI _ the two leaders’ first meeting. Though largely a formality, the occasion will include private and public discussion of world issues important to both men.
While the pope is likely to express views at least obliquely critical of U.S. foreign policy, the meeting offers an unpopular president the chance to identify himself with the prestige of the Catholic Church and to highlight some of the more successful and popular aspects of his own record.
“Obviously, the Vatican’s pro-life, pro-poor and pro-peace teachings are more easily squared with White House’s positions on some issues, like abortion and of late immigration, than on others, like the death penalty and the war in Iraq,” said John DiIulio of the University of Pennsylvania, who served as the first director of Bush’s Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives.
Bush has already indicated some of the topics he would like to discuss with Benedict, including prospects for democracy in Cuba after the death of its long-time dictator, Fidel Castro, and the need for greater religious freedom in China.
“I believe that the Holy Father is happy that most of our foreign policy is based on the principle by which, to whom much is given, much is asked,” Bush told the Italian newspaper La Stampa in an interview published Friday (June 1). “I also believe I share with Benedict the universal value of freedom.”
China, where the government refuses to recognize the Vatican’s right to appoint bishops, and where Catholics are divided between a government-backed state church and an “underground church” loyal to Rome, is an especially delicate topic.
As the Vatican prepares to release a letter from the pope to Chinese Catholics, its China problem is almost certain not to come up on Saturday, says the Rev. Thomas J. Reese, of the Woodstock Theological Center in Washington, D.C.
“Politically, asking the U.S. publicly, `Can you help us with China?’ would be insane,” said Reese, a former editor of America magazine. “The Chinese are very sensitive to influence from abroad.”
The pope, however, is sure to raise what is presumably one of Bush’s least favorite subjects, the situation in war-torn Iraq.
In an interview published Sunday (June 3) in the Italian newspaper Avvenire, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone voiced concern over the fast-deteriorating plight of Christians in Iraq. (On Sunday, a Catholic priest and three deacons were killed by gunmen in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.)
At the same time, Bertone suggested that the pope would praise Bush for his efforts to limit abortion, noting that the president is “particularly distinguished for some positive initiatives in defense of life beginning at conception.”
Bush will follow his Vatican visit with what Reese calls another “great photo opportunity,” when he meets with leaders of the Community of Sant’Egidio in Rome’s Trastevere neighborhood.
Founded in 1968, Sant’Egidio is perhaps best known for its work on conflict resolution and humanitarian aid in war-torn and underdeveloped countries, especially in Africa.
Much of the organization’s work has been done in quiet collaboration with U.S. government agencies, a fact that Bush is likely to stress, thus drawing attention to his administration’s efforts to bring peace to Africa and to combat AIDS.
“This is his way of saying, `See, I was good on life issues and I was good on AIDS and Africa,”’ Reese said. “For Bush right now, it’s all about legacy.”
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