Obama agenda: Papal politics
Posted: Friday, July 10, 2009 9:21 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
White House, Barack Obama
The AP: “The White House says it expects ‘frank’ but constructive talks in President Barack Obama's meeting Friday with Pope Benedict XVI - two men who share similar views on helping the poor and pushing for Middle East peace but disagree on abortion and stem cell research. With some Catholic activists and American bishops outspoken in their criticism of Obama, even as polls have shown he received a majority of Catholic votes, the audience is much awaited.”
Video: President Obama wraps up a summit with G-8 leaders and heads to Vatican City with his family to meet with Pope Benedict XVI. NBC’s Savannah Guthrie reports.
The
New York Times: "Ever since he took office, President Obama has been given a cold reception by some Roman Catholic bishops in the United States who have repeatedly emphasized their church’s differences with him on abortion, birth control and stem cell research. But Mr. Obama is likely to receive a much warmer reception in the Vatican on Friday when he meets Pope Benedict XVI for the first time, experts on the church say."
“Leaders of the world's major economies pledged Friday to raise $20 billion over the next three years for food and agricultural aid to the world's most impoverished countries,” the Washington Post writes. “The expanded commitment on food security -- up from an earlier pledge of $15 billion in aid -- comes as the global recession and still high commodity prices have pushed food prices 40 percent above historical levels. That combination has left many as 100 million people around the world at risk of tumbling into abject poverty, according to the White House.”
“A senior White House official said that at one point President Obama personalized the appeal for more aid, pointing out to other world leaders that he still has relatives in Kenya who are mired in deep poverty. ‘You could have heard a pin drop in the room,’ the official said.”
