The Pope Talked to Obama Today About Religious Liberty. Will It Matter?

Katrina Trinko
The Foundry
Heritage.org
3/27/2014

Vatican, Rome – March 27, 2014.Pope Francis during a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama a private audience in his private library at the Vatican on March 27, 2014. (Credit Image: © Or/Ropi/ZUMAPRESS.com) [Photo via Newscom]

During a meeting today, Pope Francis talked to President Obama about religious freedom, an issue that has come under heightened scrutiny in recent years as religious business owners have objected to Obamacare’s contraceptive and abortion-inducing drugs coverage mandates.

According to the Vatican, Francis and Obama “discussed questions of particular relevance for the Church, such as the exercise of the rights to religious freedom, life and conscientious objection, as well as the issue of immigration reform.”

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard arguments from two family-owned businesses objecting to Obamacare coverage mandates on the grounds that such mandates violated their freedom to run their businesses in accordance with their religious beliefs.

The Pope and Obama had a “cordial meeting,” per the Vatican statement, and also discussed “their common commitment to the eradication of human trafficking throughout the world.”

Related:  Contraception debate clouds Obama’s Vatican visit

US President Barack Obama spoke of his admiration for Pope Francis and invited him to the United States at their first talks on Thursday but got a reprimand for contraception clauses in his healthcare reform act…

Update:  Dissident Catholics Lobby President Obama in Rome

…”Catholics for Choice”, an abortion advocacy group that has launched campaigns to throw the Holy See out of the UN General Assembly and praises Catholics who use contraception, has been condemned twice by Bishops representing the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and other national bishop’s conferences. For years Catholics for Choice was run by ex-nun Frances Kissling who famously said she searched the world for a government to overthrow and finally found it in the Catholic Church.

 
Update 2: President Obama Meets Pope Francis; Vatican, President Have Different Takes on Conversation

…Based on the difference between the Vatican statement and the president’s interpretation of the conversation, it doesn’t seem that the president was interested in the posing of questions, or even in answers to defend, but in looking for a narrative of agreement that could help him advance his own agenda.

 
CAJ note: We’re just as shocked as you are.