A diplomatic statement. Along with recent poll findings.
Statement by Supreme Knight Anderson on Meeting Between Pope Benedict and President Obama
It is obvious that President Obama has a serious interest in engaging in a meaningful dialogue with the Catholic Church, and with Catholics, who make up one fourth of the U.S. population. President Obama clearly had much to gain from a successful meeting with the Pope.
Certainly this is another achievement for Vatican and American diplomacy and represents a positive development for those of us who hoped that this meeting might mark a new opportunity in the important relationship between the Catholic Church and U.S. government.
We applaud President Obama for showing sensitivity to the growing consensus among the American people favoring the right to life, restriction of abortion, and the protection of conscience.
As our Knights of Columbus-Marist Poll released today shows, there is a great deal of common ground among the American people on these issues. 86% would restrict abortion far more than it is today, and 79% would protect the right to conscience of health care workers. This is a real consensus on the heart of the abortion issue, and it is heartening to see the president’s attention to it.
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