Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options

In a message of congratulations on Nov. 7, Pope Benedict XVI sent best wishes to President Barack Obama and assured him of his prayers “that God might assist him in his very great responsibility,” the Vatican said, and told the president he was praying that “the ideals of liberty and justice that guided the founders of the United States of America might continue to shine.” Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, likewise congratulated President Obama in a letter on Nov. 7. The bishops, he said, “offer our prayers that God will give you strength and wisdom to meet the difficult challenges that face America.” He added that the bishops pray that Obama will “help restore a sense of civility” and “that you will exercise your office to pursue the common good, especially in care of the most vulnerable among us, including the unborn, the poor, and the immigrant. We will continue to stand in defense of life, marriage and our first, most cherished liberty, religious freedom.”

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

The 12 women whose feet were washed by Pope Francis included women from Italy, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Ukraine, Russia, Peru, Venezuela and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
"We, the members of the Society of Jesus, continue to be lifted up in prayer, in lament, in protest at the death and destruction that continue to reign in Gaza and other territories in Israel/Palestine, spilling over into the surrounding countries of the Middle East."
The Society of JesusMarch 28, 2024
A child wounded in an I.D.F. bombardment is brought to Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on March 25. (AP Photo/Ismael abu dayyah)
While some children have been evacuated from conflict, more than 1.1 million children in Gaza and 3.7 million in Haiti have been left behind to face the rampaging adult world around them.
Kevin ClarkeMarch 28, 2024
Easter will not be postponed this year. It will not wait until the war is over. It is precisely now, in our darkest hour, that resurrection finds us.
Stephanie SaldañaMarch 28, 2024