Before President Obama met Pope Benedict XVI in July 2009, Catholic media reported that the President’s staff had been busy searching for a gift to give the Pope. They finally settled on a liturgical stole that was a relic. For 18 years, the stole had covered the remains of St. John Neumann at St. Peter’s Church in Philadelphia. This was a very appropriate gift, especially since St. John Neumann was the first US Bishop to become a saint. The Redemptorists, who had recently made changes to the tomb, were honored to have the stole serve as the gift.
What then, people wondered, would be the Pope’s gift to the President? The Vatican’s newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, recently published the answer. The Pope gave the President several gifts. In addition to rosaries and pontifical medals, the Pope gave a mosaic of St. Peter’s and an autographed copy of his latest encyclical, Caritas in Veritate. These also are very appropriate gifts and in line with gifts given by the Pope in similar circumstances. But then the Pope added another gift. He gave the President a copy of last year’s Instruction on bioethics, Dignitas Personae. The thought behind this last gift was that the document would help the President to better understand the Catholic Church’s position on these matters. Bioethics is an area of disagreement between both, especially when focused on abortion.
During last May’s controversy when the University of Notre Dame invited President Obama to speak at its commencement, University President Fr. Jenkins said that he believed it was important to both illuminate “issues with the moral and spiritual wisdom of the Catholic tradition” and to serve as a place where “people of good will are received with charity, are able to speak, be heard, and engage in responsible and reasoned dialogue.” The Pope’s cordial welcome of President Obama was certainly an example of this. The meeting between the Pope and the President marked the face-to-face beginning of a dialogue. Let the dialogue continue.
Posted by APWeb 
