Bush to attend pope’s funeral

The two men publicly disagreed at times, most notably over the U.S. war in Iraq, but they eventually became leaders of a shift toward more conservative Christian beliefs, especially in the U.S., if not much of the world.
“One of his great legacies will be the influence he had on the young,” President Bush said of the pontiff during a meeting with reporters before embarking for Rome.
“He was a man of peace. And he didn’t like war, and I fully understood that and I appreciated the conversations I had with the Holy Father on the subject.
“The world will miss him. And it is my great honor, on behalf of our country, to express our gratitude to the Almighty for such a man. And, of course, we look forward to the majesty of celebrating such a significant human life.”
A White House official said the president considered the pope one of the “towering leaders of our time.”
In an interview, Yale Divinity School Professor Dr. Christian Scharen said it was only natural for Bush to go to the Vatican for the historic events as Roman Catholics said goodbye to their longest-serving pope.
“The president clearly wants to recognize the pope’s contributions on the world stage,” Scharen said.
Scharen recognized a political dynamic to the president’s decision to attend the funeral, noting, “Although he clearly clashed with the pope at times, both the pope and President Bush opened up the role of religion in public life and created the modern discussion of good and evil.”
Bush is a practicing Methodist who is also a born-again Christian. He had met with the pope three times.
At their last meeting, in 2004, the pope took the president to task over the Abu Gharib prison scandal and the continued U.S. occupation of Iraq.
Bush presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor, to the pope during a ceremony at the Vatican on June 4, 2004.
Bush read the citation that accompanied the medal, which recognized “this son of Poland” whose “principled stand for peace and freedom has inspired millions and helped to topple communism and tyranny.”
After receiving the award, the pope said, “May the desire for freedom, peace, a more humane world symbolized by this medal inspire men and women of goodwill in every time and place.”
The pope said to President Bush, “In the past few weeks, other deplorable events have come to light, which have troubled the civic and religious conscience of all and made more difficult a serene and resolute commitment to shared human values.”
The pope was credited in influencing President Bush’s decision to limit stem cell research. The president notably voiced concern in their 2002 meeting over the church’s pedophilia scandal.
“There has been a swing in political support from when [John] Kennedy received the Catholic vote to the now apparent shift of Catholics in their support for Republicans in a realignment of politics and an open discussion of religion in political life,” Yale’s Scharen said.
Also in Washington, former Taoiseach John Bruton, although not attending the pope’s funeral Mass at the Vatican, paid tribute to the Holy Father.
Bruton, now the European Union’s ambassador to the U.S., reminisced about the pontiff’s visit to Ireland in 1979.
“I walked with my parents to his open-air Mass in the Phoenix Park, where a huge cross has since been erected beside the American Ambassador’s residence on the site where the pope stood,” Bruton said.
“He spoke eloquently of the futility and immorality of using violence to resolve the conflict of allegiances that exists on the island of Ireland. Unfortunately, it has taken some people a very long time to hear his message.”.
Bruton recalled being received while taoiseach by Pope John Paul II.
“I was struck by his deep interest in and knowledge about the Muslim world, and by his wish to reach out to peoples of other faiths,” he said.