Previewing the papal-presidential parley

"The pope is a very deep theological thinker, and he's laid out a roadmap that is very clear about the moral and economic consequences of what we do. He is trying to, in a very thoughtful way, address very serious issues. The meeting is about building relationships, and our president, President Obama, has demonstrated this equally deep thinking about very serious issues, and that he is someone who is not afraid to take on deep, serious issues which cause tension. (DeLauro then mentioned Obama's speech about race during the campaign, his discussion of abortion at the University of Notre Dame, and his speech about Islam in Cairo.) This is not a photo opp, or posing for holy pictures. There is a reality and a difficulty about the serious issues that face all of our societies, and I too am optimistic that we're looking at people who will say they're complex, they're not easy, and let's find the common ground and see what we can pull out of this to move the dialogue forward.''

There are a variety of other pieces out there anticipating the meeting. The National Catholic Register posts an interview with Carl Anderson, supreme knight of the Knights of Columbus, who said, "There’s a possibility for great good to come out of the meeting," but also said, "You'd still have this irreconcilable difference which would have deep, practical consequences."

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters a bit about his expectations for the visit with the pope in a conversation with reporters aboard Air Force One yesterday (Wednesday). Here's the exchange:

"Q: When he meets the pope, Robert, do you think there's going to be frank discussion of their differences on things like abortion, gun control, gay rights, or is it mostly a courtesy call from your view?

MR. GIBBS: I think there will be frank discussion. I think -- I mean, I think that there's a lot that they agree on that they'll get a chance to discuss. We know the Pope has been keenly aware of the president's outreach to the Muslim world. The pope shares the president's view on reducing the number of nuclear weapons. So I think there's certainly a lot of common ground. And I actually think even in the issues that you mentioned where there isn't total agreement, I think if you go back and look at what the president said at Notre Dame, there's -- even if we don't see eye to eye on everything, there are steps that can be taken on a number of issues that will show progress, whether it's on something like unintended pregnancy or adoption -- some of those things that I think the pope and the president will get a chance to discuss, and I assume it will be a very frank conversation.

Q: Will there be an announcement coming out of that, you think, from that meeting -- new initiatives or efforts?

MR. GIBBS: I don't know that there will be new initiatives or new efforts as much as -- hopefully we'll get a chance to talk to him about -- the president will get a chance to talk to the pope about some of those things I mentioned and get his thoughts and input on their implementation and their impact. Obviously he's somebody that gets to see a lot of the world and I think getting his continued support for these efforts is obviously important."

And today, deputy national security advisor Denis McDonough spoke to reporters about the visit:

"The president will meet with the Holy Father. The president will meet also with Cardinal Bertone, the Secretary of State of the Vatican, as is traditional for such visits. And the President will also be joined on the visit by the First Lady. We've talked about this heretofore, underscoring the fact that in many ways the visit is not unlike visits with other heads of state -- that is to say that there are issues on which they'll agree, issues on which they'll disagree, and issues on which they'll agree to continue to work on going forward. The fact, however, is that given the influence of the Catholic Church globally, as well in the United States, and frankly, given the influence of the Catholic Church and Church social teaching on the President, himself, he recognizes that this is much more than your typical state visit. So I do believe that it's fair to say that the President looks very much forward to this visit since a very good conversation he had with the Holy Father as President-elect in, I believe it was in early December. The President has been looking for an opportunity to visit the Holy See and to meet in person with the Holy Father."

And here is McDonough reflecting on the role of Catholicism in his own life as well as that of the president:

"The President, in both his words and in his deeds, expresses many things that many Catholics recognize as fundamental to our teaching. One is that the President often refers to the fundamental belief that each person is endowed with dignity, and as it relates to the issues I work on most frequently with the President, the President often underscores that dignity of people is a driving goal in what we hope to accomplish in development policy, for example, and in foreign policy. That's one. Two, I've also heard the President speak very movingly about what Cardinal Bernadin called the seamless garment of Catholic teaching. That garment speaks to not just taking care of the poor and the needy but also investing in the kind of health care infrastructure that would ensure that people like those on the South Side of Chicago, who the President is very familiar with are oftentimes finding their health care not in publicly funded hospitals but in Catholic hospitals, for example. So the President I think has been very impacted not just as he's talked publicly about his time on the South Side when he was funded partly as a community organizer by a Catholic Church campaign for human development funding, but also as a younger person when his mother was doing so many things consistent with that tradition as somebody focused on economic development and issues similar to that in poor communities overseas."

(Photo of Pope Benedict, by Giampiero Sposito/Reuters, was taken on July 8, 2009 at the Vatican. Photo of President Obama, by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty, was taken on July 9, 2009 in in L'Aquila, Italy.)