President Obama and Pope Benedict XVI

Obama: Social Justice in Catholic Church Has Had 'Profound Influence' on Me (HT: dwcongdon)

Just days before he is to meet with Pope Benedict XVI on his first trip to Italy, President Obama told FOX News that the Catholic Church's long tradition of social justice has had a "profound influence" on him.

OSV blog has a summary: Obama's courting of Catholic press

Obama's Values: More 'Catholic' than His Critics?

Of particular interest was President Obama's statement about Church teaching and homosexuality (Question 5):

"For the gay and lesbian community in this country, I think it's clear that they feel victimized in fairly powerful ways and they're often hurt by not just certain teachings of the Catholic Church, but the Christian faith generally. And as a Christian, I'm constantly wrestling with my faith and my solicitude and regard and concern for gays and lesbians"
[...]
"I think that those of us who are people of faith also have to examine our own beliefs and wrestle with them and assure ourselves that we're not causing pain to others. And I think any of us, of whatever faith, would have to acknowledge that there have been times where religion has been used in the service of not such good stuff. And it's incumbent upon us to -- at least in my own view -- to engage in some deep reflection and entertain a willingness to question whether we are acting in a way that's consistent with not just church teachings but also what Jesus Christ our Lord called on us to do: Treat others as we would treat ourselves. Be our brother's keepers."

The interesting thing about this to me is that this bit unpacks a bit how President Obama thinks about Christianity: "they feel victimized"; "assure ourselves that we're not causing pain"; "a willingness to question whether we are acting in a way that's consistent with [...] what Jesus Christ our Lord called on us to do: Treat others as we would treat ourselves." But what is faith? What is Christianity? Who is Jesus? These are three questions I would ask President Obama to help me understand him a bit better.

I hope President Obama gets a chance to read Caritas in Veritate before he meets the Holy Father. And I'm interested to see what happens as a result of this meeting.