Obama to meet the pope while in Italy for G8

Gah, another stupid non issue for the media to get all frothy about. Anyone know if PP2 or this one ever jumped all over Bush for pre-emptive war and the death of hundreds of thousands?

VATICAN CITY— A Vatican spokesman says Pope Benedict XVI and President Barack Obama will hold a much-anticipated meeting at the Vatican on July 10.

(snip)

Such meetings in the afternoon are unusual for the tradition-conscious Vatican. It is a sign of Benedict's interest in meeting the new American president despite his support for abortion rights and stem-cell research, which the Vatican opposes.

The Vatican has been seeking common ground with Obama, although some American Catholic bishops have been hostile to his administration.

Obama picks Cuban American first Hispanic ambassador to Vatican

Very nice move, meaningful for the Cuban American community. My sis said yesterday that the Miami CA's were grumbling about Sotomayor, so this will help.

The Roman Catholic theologian from Minnesota nominated as U.S. ambassador to the Vatican is a "gifted bridge-builder" whose ability "to bring people together for spirited discussions and honest interchanges" would serve him well in the highly sensitive role, a colleague said Wednesday night.

Miguel H. Diaz, 45, a Cuban-born professor of theology at St. John's University and the College of St. Benedict in Collegeville who was an adviser to President Obama's campaign, would be the first Hispanic to serve as envoy to the Vatican since it established diplomatic ties to the United States in 1984.

Vatican: Obama seeks 'common ground' on abortion

So now the Vatican speaks up?

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican said today that President Barack Obama was clearly looking for some common ground with his speech at the University of Notre Dame about abortion.
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The Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano said Obama’s speech at the leading Catholic university on Sunday confirmed what he had said at a recent news conference — that signing the so-called Freedom of Choice Act in the U.S. Congress wasn’t his highest legislative priority. The bill would protect a woman’s right to have a child or end a pregnancy.

(snip)

Pope Benedict XVI broke Vatican protocol the day after Obama was elected, sending a personal note of congratulations rather than wait to send an official telegram on inauguration day.

In addition, L’Osservatore Romano gave Obama a positive review after his first 100 days in office, saying in a front-page editorial that even on ethical questions Obama hadn’t confirmed the “radical” new direction he had discussed during the campaign.