The Pope and the President

The meeting between a Pope from Latin American and an African-American U.S. President is in and of itself noteworthy, a positive symbol of an encounter that would have been unthinkable not too long ago.

The similarities between President Obama and Pope Francis are many including their work in and with communities and their concern for the poor. These are issues that have guided both over the trajectory of their lives. Theirs is a relationship between two leaders who share experiences and ideals.

The differences are also many and are grounded in differing beliefs. Same-sex marriage, birth control, abortion, and religious freedom as related to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, all represent a gulf between the two leaders that is difficult to overcome.

However, it is good that the meeting focused on those interests held in common in search of peace, economic justice and also the fragile situation of immigrants. The Holy Pontiff is particularly sensitive to the difficulties encountered by those who leave their homelands in search of a better future.

In this context, the brief encounter several days earlier in Rome between the Pope and Jersey Vargas, the young girl from Los Angeles, highlighted the issue of family separations due to deportations, a the tragedy facing the undocumented in the United States.

We have no doubt that the Pope spoke with Obama about immigration and we wouldn’t be surprised that the President would have listened attentively to the words of Jorge Bergoglio, a leader who continues to amaze the world with his commitment to the planet’s most vulnerable.

This doesn’t mean that Obama will put an end to deportations because of the Pope’s message. But perhaps Pope’s words provided the President with the chance to reflect on immigration and deportations outside of the political calculations and toxic environment in Washington