Jim Blazsik

Pope Benedict gave President Obama a surprise gift during their meeting on Friday.

Pope Benedict gave US President Barack Obama a surprise gift of the Vatican bioethics document “Dignitatis Personae,” and discussed the ethics of abortion and embryo research in their first meeting in Rome this afternoon.

A Vatican statement has said that in their private discussion, the pope addressed issues of “the defense and promotion of life and the right to abide by one’s conscience.”

At the customary exchange of gifts, Obama presented Pope Benedict with a relic – a stole that had been draped over the body of the US’s most popular Catholic saints, St. John Neumann, Bishop of Philadelphia from1852 to 1860. The pope also offered the president religious medals and rosaries, as well as a copy of his latest encyclical, signed this week, “Caritas in Veritate”…

…”Dignitatis Personae” (On the Dignity of Persons) is a 2008 instruction by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that gives the Catholic teaching on the ethics of embryonic research and reiterates Church opposition to contraception and abortion, mentioning new methods of birth control such as female condoms and the morning-after pill.

At the end of the meeting, Pope Benedict told the president, “A blessing on all your work and also for you.” The president responded, “Thank you very much. We look forward to a very strong relationship.”

According to Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi, “Obama told the pope of his commitment to reduce the number of abortions and of his attention and respect for the positions of the Catholic Church.”

This gift exchange between the Pope and the President is an exchange from a man who is the head of over a billion Catholics, to the man who is the leader of the free world, and has been in all intents and purposes – anti-Catholic. Or is it that President Obama just has a thing about Catholics?

He seems to go out of his way to offend Catholics and promote the culture of death.

1) he overturned the Mexico City Policy put in to place by the Bush Administration. We are now promoting abortion globally with almost a half of a billion dollars in tax-payer money.

2) he stacked the White House with abortion advocates.

3) he picked Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius as Secretary of Health and Human Services who is just as pro-abortion as he is – over the objections of Catholic leaders.

4) he signed the Omnibus Spending Bill: the House and Senate passed funding for UNFPA (which provides funding for China’s one child policy). Yes, you read correctly – we are now in the business of paying for forced abortions in China.

5) he indicated plans to rescind protections put into place by the Bush administration, designed to protect medical staff and pro-life medical centers – who refuse to perform abortion because of conscience. So much for choice.

6) he removed the ban on embryonic stem cell research put into place by the Bush administration. We are now entering the Brave New World: creating life and destroying it with tax-payer funds. It must be said that the ban has never applied to the private sector. He then refused funding for the use of adult stem calls which has already been effective. This move is more ideological than actual science.

7) he appointed gay activist Harry Knox on the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. He has made anti-Catholic statements. When “House Minority Leader John Boehner and Rep. Thad McCotter, R-Mich., joined with 20 other prominent Catholics in signing a May 13 public letter to Obama requesting Knox’s removal,” Gibbs responded, “I haven’t seen that letter, but the president is comfortable with the makeup of his faith advisory council.”

he refused to invite pro-life representatives to the Health care Summit.

9) He requested that the name of Jesus and other religious symbols covered while he gave a speech at the Catholic University of Georgetown.

10) His appointments for the ambassadorship to the Vatican have been pro-choice, which have been promptly refused.

Here is a cut from a press release by the Vatican concerning their meeting:

In the course of their cordial exchanges, the conversation turned first of all to questions which are in the interests of all and which constitute a great challenge for the future of every nation and for the true progress of peoples, such as the defense and promotion of life and the right to abide by one’s conscience.

Pope Benedict displayed wisdom and tact in setting a positive tone of cooperation and common ground with President Obama, while in turn directing the conversation to the defense and promotion of life and the right to abide by one’s conscience – gently correcting him for his promotion of the culture of death. Check out Dignitatis Personae here. A summary of the document is here.

It seems that the meeting was effective:

According to Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi, “Obama told the pope of his commitment to reduce the number of abortions and of his attention and respect for the positions of the Catholic Church.”

In politics, as in all of life, what we say and what we do can be two different things. In Obama’s mind, his intent was never to reduce the number of abortions. His idea is to change society so that a woman wouldn’t be forced into an abortion – all the while making sure that abortion services would be available without any restrictions whatsoever and with federal funding if necessary.

He has shown nothing but disrespect for the positions of the Catholic Church.

But I will think the best here. People can change. Mr. President: all eyes are on you, and I know that’s the way you like it.

Here is the complete press release from the Vatican:

“This afternoon, Friday 10 July 2009, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI received in audience the president of the United States of America, His Excellency Mr. Barack H. Obama. Prior to the audience, the president met His Eminence Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, secretary of state, and also His Excellency Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for relations with states.

In the course of their cordial exchanges, the conversation turned first of all to questions which are in the interests of all and which constitute a great challenge for the future of every nation and for the true progress of peoples, such as the defense and promotion of life and the right to abide by one’s conscience.

Reference was also made to immigration with particular attention to the matter of reuniting families.

The meeting focused as well upon matters of international politics, especially in light of the outcome of the G8 Summit. The conversation also dealt with the peace process in the Middle East, on which there was general agreement, and with other regional situations. Certain current issues were then considered, such as dialogue between cultures and religions, the global economic crisis and its ethical implications, food security, development aid especially for Africa and Latin America, and the problem of drug trafficking. Finally, the importance of educating young people everywhere in the value of tolerance was highlighted.”

UPDATE! 7/12

h/t to Aggie Catholics for this video and intro:

Interesting title to this video. If you look on the Vatican’s YouTube channel, the majority of the videos which feature visits of foreign leaders are titled with the obvious. E.g. “Benedict XVI Meets the Australian Prime Minister”, “Benedict XVI Receives the President of the Republic of Korea”, “Benedict XVI Receives Japanese Prime Minister”, etc.

But, the video of Obama is titled “Pope Benedict XVI: Life and Progress are Related”. Then the narrator starts the description of the topics discussed with, “Their brief and cordial conversation touched the defense and promotion of life and the right to conscientious objection.”

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