The Pope and the President

Richard A. Sokerka

“Thank you, thank you. I won’t forget what you said.” With those words, President Trump concluded his private meeting with Pope Francis on the feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians, May 24. Afterward, the President tweeted: “Honor of a lifetime to meet His Holiness Pope Francis. I leave the Vatican more determined than ever to pursue peace in our world.”

It’s not surprising that the President was moved by meeting the Pope and by their conversion. Anyone who meets the Pope mentions the profound effect the encounter has on their lives. It will be no different for President Trump as he takes Pope Francis’ words to heart.

What was surprising, however, was how the secular media covered the meeting. Some called it a “fence-mending encounter” to continue to promote their message that there is a real divide between the two men while not mentioning the many issues where they both wholeheartedly agree.

Let the Vatican statement about the meeting speak to this: “During the cordial discussions, satisfaction was expressed for the good existing bilateral relations between the Holy See and the United States of America, as well as the joint commitment for life and freedom of worship and conscience. It is hoped that there may be serene collaboration between the state and the Catholic Church in the United States, engaged in service to the people in the fields of healthcare, education and assistance to immigrants. The discussions then enabled an exchange of views on various themes relating to international affairs and the promotion of peace in the world through political negotiation and interreligious dialogue, with particular reference to the situation in the Middle East and the protection of Christian communities.”

Certainly, the two do not agree on every issue, but that is to be expected. On immigration, the Holy Father calls on all nations to resettle refugees while the President believes that those nations in the area which are receptive to resettling them are best suited to do so. But they are in lock-step agreement on important issues that the Pope has addressed over and over again in his pontificate: religious liberty and the respect for life. Fairness dictates that secular media report this and accentuate the positives of the meeting, not only what they see as the negatives. For as we all know to well, the great divide between a President and a Pope actually occurred during the Obama years over the real, palpable differences they had when they met on the issues of abortion, “same-sex marriage,” gender ideology, and religious liberty, which the secular press never reported and the former President turned a deaf ear to.