Pope Benedict's Gifts to President Obama

On Friday, July 10, after attending the G8 economic summit, U.S. President Barack Obama paid a visit to Pope Benedict XVI. By all accounts, the meeting was a cordial one, with the usual photo ops and exchange of gifts. As always, though, the most interesting details were those released by the Vatican after the meeting.

Describing the order of events, the Holy See Press Office notes that

In the course of their cordial exchanges the conversation turned first of all to questions which are in the interests of all and which constitute a great challenge for the future of every nation and for the true progress of peoples, such as the defence and promotion of life and the right to abide by one's conscience [emphasis mine].

This is significant for two reasons. First, we don't normally think of "the defence and promotion of life and the right to abide by one's conscience" in these terms. Pope Benedict is reminding President Obama (and all of us) that our willingness to defend the weakest among us—the unborn, the elderly, the ill—will determine the priorities of our nations.

And in that regard, the second interesting part of this statement is the use of the phrase "the true progress of peoples," a deliberate reference to Pope Paul VI's 1967 social encyclical Populorum progressio, and an indirect (though pointed) reference to Pope Benedict's social encyclical, Caritas in veritate, released earlier in the week. Caritas in veritate begins with a lengthy discussion of Populorum progressio, situating it within the tradition of Catholic social thought.

Caritas in veritate then moves on to a discussion of "Human Development in Our Time," in which the Holy Father declares that

One of the most striking aspects of development in the present day is the important question of respect for life, which cannot in any way be detached from questions concerning the development of peoples. It is an aspect which has acquired increasing prominence in recent times, obliging us to broaden our concept of poverty and underdevelopment to include questions connected with the acceptance of life, especially in cases where it is impeded in a variety of ways.

Pope Benedict isn't speaking here simply of "high rates of infant mortality" in developing countries (though he does mention those); rather, he makes it clear that his chief concern is an "anti-birth mentality" in developed countries, where "legislation contrary to life is very widespread." Indeed, "frequent attempts are made to export this mentality to other States as if it were a form of cultural progress."

But such activities work against any true human progress. As the Holy Father writes:

Openness to life is at the centre of true development. When a society moves towards the denial or suppression of life, it ends up no longer finding the necessary motivation and energy to strive for man's true good. If personal and social sensitivity towards the acceptance of a new life is lost, then other forms of acceptance that are valuable for society also wither away. The acceptance of life strengthens moral fibre and makes people capable of mutual help. By cultivating openness to life, wealthy peoples can better understand the needs of poor ones, they can avoid employing huge economic and intellectual resources to satisfy the selfish desires of their own citizens, and instead, they can promote virtuous action within the perspective of production that is morally sound and marked by solidarity, respecting the fundamental right to life of every people and every individual.

All of this increases the significance of the gifts that Pope Benedict presented to President Obama. It is not surprising that he would present him with a copy of Caritas in veritate, since it had just been released a few days before; but the Holy Father also presented President Obama with a signed copy of Dignitas personae ("The Dignity of the Person"), a document released by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on September 8, 2008. Dignitas personae reiterates the Church's unchanging teaching on abortion and artificial contraception, and applies the Church's teaching to current problems, including fertility treatments that involve the creation of "excess" embryos and the destruction and use of those embryos in scientific research (especially embryonic stem-cell research).

Combine the two gifts and the statement from the Holy See Press Office, and it's clear what message Pope Benedict hoped to convey to President Obama. Dignitas personae and the sections on life in Caritas in veritate both stand in contradiction to the Obama administration's policies on abortion and ESCR. If President Obama truly wants to work "change" for the better, he needs to start by protecting the unborn.

Without respect for all human life, any other "change" will simply be rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.