US President Barack Obama on Thursday personally invited Pope Francis to the White House over concerns the Catholic Church has with his pet healthcare law. Obama's announcement was made during a visit to the Vatican, Reuters said.
During one part of his meeting with the Pope, reporters present witnessed Obama's cheerful mood as he joked and appeared relax with the Vatican High Official. A brief statement issued by the Vatican later said that Obama's private discussion with Pop Francis was more serious. The statement also revealed that the Church told Obama about the former's awareness of the religious freedom aspects of his healthcare law, of which back home has been marred with debate and lawsuits from for-profit companies who wish to exercise their faith by not complying with the law's birth control mandate.
According to members of religions, the birth control mandate violated their beliefs as it forces them to accept and support sterilization and contraception.
After the meeting with Pope Francis, Obama said in a news conference that they have not touched the healthcare act in detail, but he has discussed it with another Church official separately, Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Reuters said.
Referring to the differences of his and Pope Francis' roles in their jurisdiction, Obama said, "I pledged to continue to dialogue with the U.S. Conference of (Catholic) Bishops to make sure that we can strike the right balance. His job is a little more elevated. We're down on the ground dealing with the often profane, and he's dealing with higher powers. I do think that there is a potential convergence between what policymakers need to be thinking about and what he's talking about."
Obama's visit was not just solely for diplomatic purposes. Reuters said Obama bore seeds of fruit and vegetables from the presidential residence as a symbolic gift to the Pope before extending an invitation to visit him in the White House. Obama, in return, received two commemorative medals and a red leather-bound copy of Evangeli Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospels), the latter written by Francis last year.
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