President Bush asks Vatican to Bring Bishops on Side on Life and Family Issues

VATICAN, June 14, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The National Catholic Reporter’s Rome Correspondent, John Allen, reports that on his June 4 visit with Pope John Paul II and Vatican officials Bush asked for help from Rome to move US Bishops to act to defend life and family.  “During his June 4 visit, Bush asked the Vatican to push the American Catholic bishops to be more aggressive politically on family and life issues, especially a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman,” writes Allen.  The Rome correspondent goes on to quote an unnamed “Vatican official” who said that in his meeting with Cardinal Angelo Sodano and other Vatican officials, Bush said, “Not all the American bishops are with me” on the cultural issues.  Allen adds that “According to sources, Sodano did not respond to the request.”  The revelation, while newsworthy, is an embarrassment for Cardinal Sodano and the Vatican.  The leak of a private diplomatic conversation between one of the Vatican’s highest officials and the President of the United States is unprecedented.  See the report from NCR at:  https://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/word/