VATICAN CITY – Catholic scholar George Weigel says there’s more to President Barack Obama’s meeting with Pope Francis than their shared concern for the poor.
Weigel says Vatican officials believe the White House is trying to “use the pope to shore up the president’s shrinking popularity and credibility.”
Deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said Obama has been inspired by the pope and the way he has motivated people around the world with his messages of inclusion and equality.
Rhodes said Obama planned to express his appreciation for the pope’s leadership.
But Weigel says Pope Francis is “quite aware” of what U.S. bishops regard as the threat to religious liberty posed by the Obama administration’s birth control mandate, and was likely to share those concerns at their private meeting.
