U.S.-Vatican Ties Remain Strong Despite Differences, Ambassador Says
Relations between the Obama administration and the Vatican remain strong, despite deep-seated ideological differences and recent revelations that U.S. officials criticized the Vatican's diplomacy tactics, according to Miguel Diaz, U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports. Diaz was responding to interview questions about U.S.-Vatican relations in light of leaked U.S. diplomatic cables that were posted by the website WikiLeaks last year. The cables remarked on aggressive diplomacy to hinder lawsuits over sex abuse scandals and made other critical comments.
According to the AP/Chronicle, the Obama administration has faced sharp criticism from some members of the Catholic hierarchy because the president supports abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research. Obama's election has "presented a challenge" for church leaders in the wake of eight years of camaraderie with his antiabortion-rights predecessor, President George W. Bush, the AP/Chronicle reports.
In 2009, Pope Benedict reiterated the church's stance on abortion during a meeting with President Obama at the Vatican. Vatican officials said Obama pledged to step up efforts to reduce the need for abortion, a position the president advocated during a commencement speech earlier that year at University of Notre Dame. The university's invitation to Obama was opposed by some conservative Catholics, who felt it was inappropriate for an abortion-rights supporter to address the Catholic school (Simpson, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 1/7).
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