Interview at the White House: A Catholic Digest Special Report

New London, CT - July 6, 2009 -  While admitting that there are disagreements between the White House and the Vatican, U.S. President Barack Obama said last week that there are also areas of "deep agreement" between them, and a strong government-to-government relationship that he hopes to build on during his visit with Pope Benedict, July 10.
 
President Obama made his comments during a 45-minute roundtable discussion at the White House July 2, with eight senior religion journalists, including Catholic Digest editor-in-chief Dan Connors. In that wide-ranging interview he spoke of some of his goals for his meeting with the pope, the need to work on reforming aspects of the capitalist system, peace in the Middle East, his sometimes contentious relationship with some American bishops over his pro-choice stand on abortion, conscience protection laws, seeking possible common ground on some abortion issues, his strong connection to much of Catholic social teaching, and his personal spiritual life.
 
The meeting at the Vatican is important, President Obama told the journalists, because of the Catholic Church's "profound influence worldwide and in our country." Pope Benedict, he added, "is a thought leader and an opinion leader on so many wide-ranging issues," whose influence extends "beyond the Catholic Church."
 
President Obama also spoke of the "great honor" he personally feels at having a meeting with the pope. He spoke warmly of the "wonderful conversation" he had with Pope Benedict right after the election, and he spoke hopefully of building a strong working relationship with him and finding areas in which the two governments can cooperate- "everything from Middle East peace to dealing with worldwide poverty, climate change, immigration, a whole host of issues in which the pope has taken extraordinary leadership," the president said.
 
At that point, the president invited questions from the journalists. What follows is condensed and edited from that exchange. The topics are given in the order in which they were addressed. Click each topic to see President Obama's response to the question.

Mr. Obama's Relationship with Bishops
The G8 conference and meeting the needs of the poor
Does the president support a conscience clause for service providers?
Common ground on abortion?
Is incendiary language acceptable?
The president's connection to Catholic social teaching
Why no church yet for the Obama family?
Middle East Peace

Link to Interview at the White House: A Catholic Digest Special Report
Link to At the White House: Personal Thoughts by Dan Connors

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Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson

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