Obama and Pope Benedict XVI

President Obama had his first in person meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in Italy this Friday. The meeting in Vatican City was Obama's last stop in his trip to Italy. The first family's next destination is Accra, Ghana. It will be President Obama's first appearance in sub-Saharan Africa since he was elected in 2008.

Obama recognized that he and Pope Benedict would not necessarily see eye to eye on everything, saying, "There are going to be some areas where we've got deep agreements; there are going to be some areas where we've got some disagreements." The Vatican lost the common ground that they had shared with the Bush administration on the issues of stem cell research and abortion, but the Vatican has also taken interest in the views of President Obama. While they may not see eye to eye on issues such as abortion and stem cell research, Pope Benedict and Obama have similar views on the war in Iraq, which the Vatican had openly opposed previous to its start under the Bush administration.

While many American Catholic activists have spoken out against Obama, this recent meeting with the Pope further shows the lack of aversion between the Vatican and Obama and his administration. An article written shortly after election day by Julia Duin of the Washington Times outlined the an analysis that proved that Catholic voters strongly favored Obama. According to Druin:

"Large numbers of Catholics and religiously unaffiliated voters heavily contributed to President-elect Barack Obama's huge margin of victory over Republican Sen. John McCain, according to an analysis of exit poll surveys by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life."

To read the entire article, visit: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/nov/07/catholic-voters-heavily-favored-obama-analysis-sho/

Topics discussed between Obama and Pope Benedict included abortion, immigration, and foreign relations in the Middle East. The two men also discussed the role that developed countries should play in aiding developing countries.

While the meeting has been described as positive and constructive, the Pope still urged the Vatican's pro-life stance, presenting Obama with a copy of "Dignitatis Personae," a Vatican document on the subject of bioethics in terms of stem cell research and cloning. Obama accepted the gift with gratitude, promising the pope that he would read it on the way to Ghana.

Raw footage of President Obama and Pope Benedict can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg19VRWX_i0
Their actual discussion was not filmed.

And so it goes,
Kayla