Vatican City, May 22, 2017 / 12:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- When Pope Francis was asked last week about his upcoming meeting with U.S. president Donald Trump, he made headlines for answering that he always tries to look for common ground.
Given that they have vocally disagreed on prominent issues in the past, what will the areas of shared agreement be?
The two are set to meet at the Vatican Wednesday, May 24, at 8:30 a.m., before Pope Francis’ weekly general audience.
President Trump arrives to Italy May 23 after stopping in both Saudi Arabia and Israel as part of his first international trip, which lasts nine days. He will also attend a NATO meeting in Brussels on May 25 and a G7 summit in Sicily on May 26.
Perhaps the most prominent area of disagreement between Trump and Francis is immigration.
During a Feb. 18, 2016, in-flight press conference, the Pope was asked to respond to Donald Trump’s immigration stand, particularly his threat to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Pope Francis responded saying “a person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel.” However, he also said that he would “give the benefit of the doubt” to the political candidate.
One week prior, Trump had bashed Pope Francis as a “pawn” for the Mexican government and “a very political person” who does not understand the problems of the United States.
After the fact, then-Holy See spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi told Vatican Radio that the Pope’s comment “was never intended to be, in any way, a personal attack or an indication of how to vote” and had repeated a longstanding theme of his papacy: bridge-building.
During Trump’s time in office so far, U.S. bishops – who have Francis’ full backing on the issue – have been critical of Trump’s moves on immigration, criticizing the “ban” he implemented in his first week in office halting refugee admissions for 120 days – indefinitely for Syrian refugees – and temporarily banning visa permissions for people seeking entry to the United States from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.
Trump and Francis also have very divergent opinions on climate change. Francis insisted on the need to protect creation in his environmental encyclical Laudato Si, saying problems such as global warming are caused by human activity.
The Pope gave his full support of the Paris Climate deal in 2015, sending Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, to the Nov. 30-Dec. 11 summit as his personal delegate to the gathering.
Trump later threatened to back out of the deal, but delayed the process until after the G7 summit he’ll be participating in this week.
While there will certainly be these and other points the two disagree on, there are several issues – other than their shared disregard for formal protocol – that could actually bring the two together.
These, to name a few, could be: pro-life issues, above all defense of the unborn; religious freedom, particularly for Christians in the Middle East; and the push for a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Since his campaign days, Trump has identified himself as pro-life, and even gave a shout-out to the Jan. 27 March for Life in Washington D.C. in a clip of an interview with David Muir of ABC.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence became the first vice president to participate in the event, giving a keynote speech that stressed the “sanctity of life.”
Pro-life issues are likely to be at least one strong point of union for Trump and Francis, who has often spoken out against abortion and other concerns such as euthanasia, calling them in one audience in 2014 “sins against God.”
He has also encouraged the use of conscientious objection based on religious convictions, at one point describing it as “a basic human right.”
When it comes to the Trump administration, the pro-life issue remains a big issue for many U.S. Catholics, who praised the president’s reinstatement of the “Mexico City Policy,” which prohibits U.S. funding of non-government organizations that either promote or perform abortions through family-planning funds.
Trump was also lauded for his appointment of Niel Gorsuch to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left when Justice Antonin Scalia passed away last year. Gorsuch has been praised not only for his pro-life stance, but also for his commitment to religious freedom.
Pope Francis and Trump are also likely to share concern for persecuted Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq and throughout the Middle East.
Both Trump and Francis have called for greater solidarity and protection of persecuted Christians.
Francis has repeatedly spoken out on modern persecution, saying there are more martyrs today than in the early Church, with the “ecumenism of blood” having become a watermark phrase of his pontificate.
Trump himself said during his campaign that protecting persecuted Christians would be a priority. As evidence of this intent, at a May 11 summit on persecuted Christians U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said, “We’re with you, we stand with you,” and assured of both his and Trump’s prayers.
As with any political figure, questions still loom as to how much Trump will actually do, especially if differing political opinions get in the way. But overall, the topic will likely be a point of agreement and collaboration with the Vatican.
And while Trump’s previous rhetoric on Islam is something Francis would likely hastily disagree with, a recent shift in the president’s tone is something the Pope would certainly welcome.
During his election campaign, Trump called for the “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,” and voicing his opinion that “Islam hates us.”
However, so far Trump’s rhetoric on Muslims has cooled during his first international trip abroad.
In his May 21 speech at the Arab Islamic American Summit in Ridyadh, Saudi Arabia, Trump avoided the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism,” referring instead to “the crisis of Islamist extremism and the Islamist terror groups it inspires.”
“The nations of the Middle East will have to decide what kind of future they want for themselves, for their country and, frankly, for their families and for their children,” Trump said, speaking to leaders from more than 50 predominantly Muslim countries.
The choice is “between two futures,” and “it is a choice America cannot make for you,” he said, adding that “a better future is only possible if your nations drive out the terrorists and drive out the extremists.”
He said he didn’t come to “lecture,” but to seek an end to terrorism and the beginning of peace in the Middle East region, noting that roughly 95 percent of terrorist victims are themselves Muslim.
The president said he wants a partnership with people who share the same “interests and values” as the U.S., calling Islam one of the “great faiths” with an “ancient heritage” that has served as the “cradle of civilization.”
In addition, Trump said the problem of terrorism is not “a battle between different faiths, different sects, or different civilizations. This is a battle between barbaric criminals who seek to obliterate human life and decent people of all religions who seek to protect it…This is a battle between good and evil.”
The U.S. president’s more moderate tone on Islam, and indeed his unprecedented praise of some aspects of Muslim culture, is something Pope Francis would likely appreciate. The Pope has on multiple occasions warned against “Islamophobia,” insisting that not all Muslims are terrorist.
However, while the two might have new-found common ground in terms of how they refer to the Muslim community, at least in the public sphere, Francis will likely take issue with the weapons deal signed by Trump and Saudi King Salman.
The deal guarantees the Middle Eastern powerhouse some $350 billion in weapons over the next 10 years, with $110 billion going into effect immediately.
Francis has consistently called for an end to the arms trade, criticizing nations that sell weapons to warring countries in order to keep the conflicts going that line their own pockets. The Pope has used almost countless occasions to insist for an end to this “scourge.”
Saudi Arabia has also been criticized by many other Middle Eastern nations for funding ISIS, most directly through weapons sales.
But regardless of the deal, terrorism is sure to be one of the key topics discussed, and if Trump’s speech in Saudi Arabia is an indication of how he intends to address the issue from here on out, the two just might be able agree on this point.
After leaving Saudi Arabia, Trump flew to Israel for an official visit in a bid to cement Israeli ties and help move forward on a peace deal with Palestine. After arriving this morning, he voiced hopes to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin of a broader peace deal in the region.
“You have a great opportunity right now. Great feeling for peace throughout the Middle East. People have had enough of the bloodshed and the killing. I think we’re going to start see things starting to happen,” he told Rivlin.
In a speech to Israeli Prime Minister on the tarmac, Trump said: “We have before us a rare opportunity to bring security and stability and peace to this region and its people, defeating terrorism and creating a future of harmony, prosperity and peace, but we can only get there working together. There is no other way.”
In a previous encounter, Trump had asked Netenyahu to “hold off” on building more settlements in order help give space to further peace discussions in the region.
Earlier this month Trump met with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas at the White House, telling him that when it comes to a deal that pleases both parties, “we will get it done.”
The commitment to a two-state solution has been a longstanding priority for the Vatican, which was reinforced during a recent 2015 agreement between Palestine and the Holy See to promote religious freedom in the area.
Trump himself, however, has said his administration is not married to the idea of a two-state solution to the decades-long conflict, deviating from previous administrations on the issue.
While the Vatican and Trump might not agree on what exactly a peace deal looks like, it’s likely to be a shared concern.
Another topic that could be a point of union between the Pope and the president is human trafficking; not necessarily because Trump himself has been a hardliner on the issue, but more likely because the president’s daughter and high-profile adviser Ivanka Trump has made a commitment to it.
It is in this capacity that she is participating in each of the nine days of Trump’s first trip abroad as president, including the public portion of his meeting with Francis.
While in Italy, Ivanka is also set to meet with the Community of Sant’Egidio, a group often praised by Pope Francis for their work with the poor and refugees, to discuss putting an end to human trafficking.
During the meeting, the Ivanka is expected to meet with several women who are victims of trafficking, and discuss various ways in which the Church and the U.S. government can collaborate on the issue.
So while there are clearly many areas in which Pope Francis and Trump diverge, the meeting will likely find both men seeking to find common ground.
Francis himself during his May 13 press conference refrained from making a premature evaluation of Trump, saying “I never make a judgment of a person without listening to them. I believe that I should not do this.”
When the two finally meet, “things will come out, I will say what I think, he will say what he thinks, but I never, ever, wanted to make a judgment without hearing the person.”
Peace and friendship are things that can’t be forced, he said, explaining that they take daily effort and are “handcrafted.”
“Respect the other, say that which one thinks, but with respect, but walk together,” he said. Even if someone thinks differently, “be very sincere,” and respectful.
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Hearts are lonely hunters when met with constant refusal, like Carson McCullers’ deaf mute rebuffed by circumstances, ends it all. Christ frees us from such unwelcome conditions to love freely because he loved us freely. But there are rules Christ sets as the standards for justice, the realization of what love is. How do we judge, and judge we must if love is just? Can it ever be unjust? The latter is why we have rules. Rigorists if implacable perceive no quarter, while the merciful do. Life if lived with a heart teaches that. Are there exceptions? Reason informs conscience there must. That’s why the Church has tribunals to make a just judgment on the validity of marriage. Although many divorce and remarry are unwilling or unable to. At least we may assume some of these remarriages outside the Church are not adulterous while the remaining are. What is frequently disregarded as many internet comments attest is the previous marriage, the anguish, the abandonment of children often means of support. Mercy must be just. His Holiness, wishing to be most merciful, has set his own standards for justice in Amoris Laetitia. As there may be exceptions to the rule, Francis has constructed two principles that nullify the validity of all marriages. Conscience as an inviolable judge, sacramental marriage as an impossibility. “Conscience can do more than recognize that a given situation does not correspond objectively to the overall demands of the Gospel. It [individual conscience] can also recognize what God himself is asking amid the concrete complexity of one’s limits, while yet not fully the objective ideal” (Amoris 303). Grace is omitted in Amoris 303 as the means to avoid sin, as is responsibility. Regarding the inviolability of sacramental marriage, His Holiness quotes Saint Thomas Aquinas in Amoris 304, “Although there is necessity in general principles, the more we descend to matters of detail, the more frequently we encounter defects. Where there is the same rectitude in matters of detail, it is not equally known to all. The principle will be found to fail, according as we descend further into detail” (ST 1a2ae 94 4). Aquinas is speaking hypothetically on the principle of justice, that the truth is not found in casuistry rather in examining the conditions of the act. Only then can we reach certitude that a certain principle applies. Obviously he believes there are just principles, inviolable principles as there is justice itself. Aquinas believes sacramental marriage is an inviolable principle. He believes adultery cannot be made licit with the presumption that all principles are illicit because we will always find defects that nullify them. Francis’ interpretation is a thoroughly misleading error. What are the effects of this error if not disregard for the tribunal process, the confessional, and the unconditional reception of communion according to one’s conscience in Malta, Sicily, Germany, Philippines, and spreading?
An added comment regarding conscience and the compelling rationale given by Pope Francis for a more merciful approach. While there may be exceptions to the rule, and priests, at least some historically have made exception Francis couches his entire argument in Amoris with the understanding that the only resolution is to offer communion removing the possible basis for exception and making it a rule.
Exactly so. Exceptions to a rule are one thing, but quite another to invent an entirely new moral category where the rules neither apply nor exist. Instead, this [brackets added]:
“A separation, or even an opposition, is thus established in some cases between the teaching of the precept, which is valid and general, and the norm of the individual conscience, which would in fact make the final decision [not judgment] about what is good and what is evil. On this basis, an attempt is made to legitimize so-called ‘pastoral’ solutions contrary to the teaching of the Magisterium, and to justify a ‘creative. hermeneutic according to which the moral conscience is in no way obliged, in every case, by a particular negative precept [thou shalt not]” (Veritatis Splendor, VS, n. 56).
And, earlier: “…the commandment of love of God and neighbor does not have in its dynamic any higher limit, but [!] it does have a lower limit, beneath which the commandment [negative precept] is broken” (VS, n. 52).
Peter, insofar as Amoris Laetitia 304 and the implication that we will find nullifying deficit in all sacramental marriage, the best approach to Amoris 304 and the issue of defects found in the implementation of moral principles, here the insolubility of marriage is to cite the question of Article 4. Whether the Natural Law is the Same in All Men? Aquinas says the more we examine the question we find that men have differing views. That is not to say that all men have different views on natural law, since a consensus is evident in the universal nature of natural law. Hence it’s not the law that changes. Rather either due to deficit of knowledge, for example the patriarchs practiced polygamy without sin unaware of the first principle of monogamy. Marriage to women, even multiple, was within the range of the law. And if a person intent on murder requests the return of a borrowed weapon, although natural law states the obligation to return in this instance we’re not obliged on the grounds of inhibiting murder. Natural law doesn’t change, it’s the accidental deficit often sinful that prevents its fulfillment. Therefore, the natural law of itself, a reflection of the eternal law, doesn’t change. Insofar as marriage, Christ says as instituted from the beginning it was insoluble. Aquinas Ad 1 replies “The Law and the Gospel belong to the natural law, since they contain many things that are above nature, but that whatever belongs to the natural law is fully contained in them. Again, Amoris Laetitia 304 gives the mistaken impression that the further we descend in examining details the more we’re apt to find deficit, and the general principle is found to fail – refers to each individual instance of sacramental marriage. Aquinas instead refers that inconsistency to All Men.
Kudos to you and to Mr. Beaulieu for your analyses. You two have staunch hearts and minds, a lion’s share of fortitude, able as you are to enter the innards of demonic euphemism and return, smelling nice, bearing gifts for those of us not up to the task. Thank you.
We read: “In the call to freedom we discover the true meaning of the inculturation of the Gospel…being able to announce the Good News of Christ the Savior while respecting the good and the true that exist in cultures.”
Yes! And? And…
“Two essential themes [!] are bound up with this view. First, that of the transcendence of revelation in relation to the cultures in which it finds expression. The Word of God cannot, in effect, be identified or linked in an exclusive manner with the elements of culture which bear it. [AND] The Gospel quite often demands a conversion of attitudes and an amendment of customs where it establishes itself: Cultures must also be purified and restored in Christ.”
(This from the International Theological Commission, Introduction to “Faith and Inculturation”,1988: https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_cti_1988_fede-inculturazione_en.html)
If what Amoris Laetitia is propounding is being based (justified) on neo-Pelagianism and its effects or consequences, it does not say it within its own contents and does not even mention it. So it does not resolve if this was ever part of the Church’s understanding of marriage and what impacts upon it, or, why such an approach would only now have been essential.
To start with I notice at large there is difficulty today in understanding Pelagianism. On the other hand we do not know what cases are behind Amoris Laetitia so as to have a clearer picture what is covered; only select individuals will know. At the same time there is a drive for not keeping the problematic situations somewhat private.
Other heresies put one at odds with baptism. Do they nullify marriage too or is it just the neo-Pelagianism? Pope Francis has some exposure to Orthodox. Is Amoris Laetitia an attempt to align the Roman Catholic Church with the East which permits nullity “at least” for “the first mistake” as a matter of “mercifulness”?
Sacramental marriage is peculiar to the spouses in its unitive aspects, I think. But if an inquiry is wrongly set and kept exclusive to itself, either never examining the vows or making them indifferent, or testing them on things not of their own tenor, it is bound to reach into all kinds of considerations. Deficiencies are bound to be there but at that point they would come into altered mode of measurement and weightiness.
It is crucial since the spouses are an aid to one another and a grace that precisely helps in the baptismal deepening and precisely makes the witness. Amoris Laetitia might speak a bit to some aspects here (parts that I read); however, it’s arguable what is allowed is too generalist, not sufficiently sacramental and way below what some spouses have vowed.
Just a note for clarity Elias. The original question is whether the Natural Law is the same in All Men. When we examine the general principle [universal] we find all men do not consistently hold the same understanding due to some deficit. Francis mistakenly poses the question for individuals, which most individuals do have a common understanding of the Law. Insofar as Marriage and other absolute principles there are likely minor deficits. A deficit in order to nullify a marriage must be sufficiently serious to negate a required condition for marriage. For example, a previous undisclosed unresolved marriage, an undisclosed mental handicap, an undisclosed addiction, a previously arranged undisclosed continuous sexual relationship with another party, a lack of emotional maturity at the time of exchange of vows and the like, evidence of a previous unwillingness to stay in union. A serious deficit [that existed prior to exchange of vows] must be proved before a tribunal for a declaration of nullity.
I heard a bishop say that the sacrament of marriage was from Genesis; and I see that AMORIS LAETITIA opens by rooting marriage in Genesis, “the human couple in its deepest reality” (10). Is this correct?
In March 1994, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments promulgated instructions on inculturation with regard to the Roman liturgy.
The Instructions highlight the contradiction between the teaching of VCII, Francis’ Traditionis custodes, and the words of Francis today. Why should the Church take special care to incorporate some types of ‘cultural’ diversity while excluding traditional ‘cultural’ Catholic practices which arose (that too, after ‘death’) organically from within the very bowels of the Church herself?
“Fourth instruction for the right application of the Conciliar Constitution on the Liturgy…
Introduction
1. Legitimate differences in the Roman rite were allowed in the past and were foreseen by the Second Vatican Council in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy especially in the missions.[1] “Even in the liturgy the church has no wish to impose a rigid uniformity in matters that do not affect the faith or the good of the whole community.”[2] It has known and still knows many different forms and liturgical families, and considers that this diversity, far from harming her unity, underlines its value.[3]”
Francis’ CT argument against unity consists of his vague claim of a questionnaire administered to some bishops; some bishops claim they never received or responded to such a questionnaire. Without supporting evidence, the claim that bishops see TLM as disunitive proves itself nothing but dust and straw. On the other hand, the argument for the NOM–to make our worship ecumenically appealing–has demonstrated its devastating consequence. The great drift of Catholics, away from the Church, toward noneness and apostasy, occurred only after the institution of the NOM.
The contradictions of Francis will continue into history. One day his confession will be known, lucid, and clear. On that day, justice shall reign. So help us God.