Pope, Obama To Hold Meeting After G-8 Summit

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Abortion
Article Date: 29 Jun 2009 - 1:00 PDT

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Pope Benedict XVI has agreed to meet with President Obama at the Vatican on July 10, according to White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs, the AP/Boston Globe reports. The Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesperson, on Wednesday said that the pope will hold an afternoon meeting with the president and first lady Michelle Obama after the conclusion of the Group of Eight industrialized nations summit meeting, a break with a Vatican tradition of holding midday meetings. The AP/Globe reports that the Vatican "clearly sought to accommodate" the president's schedule, an indication that Benedict is interested in meeting with Obama despite his support for abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research.

Some U.S. bishops have publicly attacked Obama's support of abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research, which has fueled anticipation of a meeting between the president and the pope. Most recently, dozens of bishops denounced the University of Notre Dame's decision to invite Obama to deliver its commencement address and receive an honorary degree. However, L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican's daily newspaper, said that Obama's speech showed that he is looking for common ground on issues related to abortion. Obama also received a positive review from the newspaper after his first 100 days in office. An editorial in the paper said that Obama had not confirmed the "radical" direction on ethical questions he had discussed as a candidate (Simpson, AP/Boston Globe, 6/24).

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