Many Catholics feel agree that much of what President Bush believes in is very congruent with Catholic teaching and it is wonderful to hear that Pope Benedict may feel the same way; as this extraordinary quote from a recent article by Fr. Joseph Fessio regarding the recent visit to the White House by the pope, in which he notes:
“Nowhere has the congruence of their thinking been clearer than at April's welcoming ceremony at the White House, when Bush cited Benedict's denunciation of the "dictatorship of relativism," and the pope noted the importance of American religiosity as inspiration for abolitionism and the civil-rights movement.
“To which Bush replied, "Thank you, Your Holiness. Awesome speech."
"They could pretty much have given each other's speech," said William McGurn, Bush's former head speechwriter and a Catholic, who was present at the ceremony (but did not write the president's remarks).
“Fessio agreed. "In terms of authentic, normative Catholic teaching, I don't see any area in which the pope and President Bush disagree," he said.”
The visit this Friday, June 13th, of President Bush to the Vatican is being especially prepared for, as this article from Zenit News Service notes:
“VATICAN CITY, JUNE 9, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI will welcome U.S. President George Bush on Friday with something of the same unprecedented cordiality the president showed when he received the Pope in the United States last April.
“The Holy Father is leaving aside the typical protocol that prescribes receiving heads of state in the pontifical apartments, and will have his meeting with Bush in the Tower of St. John within the Vatican Gardens, the prefecture of the pontifical household announced today in L'Osservatore Romano.”
Lampstand Foundation website, http://www.lampstandfoundation.org/
"The sinner is at the very heart of Christianity. Nobody is so competent as the sinner in matters of Christianity. Nobody, except the saint." Charles Peguy (1873-1914)
About
- David H. Lukenbill
- I am a California native, married, we have one daughter and live close to the American River with two cats and all the wild critters we can feed. I am a management consultant to nonprofit organizations and have an Associates of Arts degree in Administration of Justice from Sacramento City College, a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Behavior from the University of San Francisco and a Master of Public Administration degree, also from the University of San Francisco.