"The Holy Father and I..."

Obama to Pope: 'I have appreciated our work together over these last four years' President Barack Obama has released a statement on the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and, as usual, it's all about himself. In three spartan sentences, he manages to use the word “I” four times.

The use of the first-person singular is Obama's own Holy Tradition, a hallmark of both his rhetoric and his governing style. His administration is a Magisterium of one.

Nonetheless, one line is particularly galling: “Michelle and I warmly remember our meeting with the Holy Father in 2009, and I have appreciated our work together over these last four years.”

That mutual work has consisted of:

•Stripping the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops of federal grants to fight sex trafficking, because the USCCB would not refer patients for abortion;

• Forcing Catholic non-profits and laity to violate their faith by financing abortifacients at home and abortion around the world;

• Publicly advocating the redefinition of the family, something the pope said just last month threatens “the future of humanity”;

•Trying to have the government decide who is a “minister,” a ploy with far-reaching implications that the Supreme Court unanimously struck down;

• Reducing the “freedom of religion” to a mere “freedom of worship”; and

• Generally trying to shoehorn people of faith into a tiny, hermetically sealed box as far removed from the public square as possible.

In other words, Obama thanked himself for a four-year relationship that has been purely adversarial.

As Bill Clinton might say, that takes a lot of brass..."
—LSN

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 13, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In his congratulations message to the new Pope Francis I, President Obama once again cited his “work with Pope Benedict XVI.”

The phrase is reminiscent of his message to Pope Emeritus Benedict upon his resignation, when he wrote, “I have appreciated our work together over these last four years.”

President Obama, who opposes the Catholic Church's position on a host of social issues and has defunded Catholic agencies over their opposition to abortion, did not specify what this work might be.

His message to the new pope called Pope Francis “a champion of the poor and the most vulnerable among us,” who “carries forth the message of love and compassion that has inspired the world for more than two thousand years – that in each other we see the face of God.”

Obama made light of the tension his administration has provoked on Good Morning America today. When host George Stephanopoulos asked if an American pope might be too beholden to the U.S. president, Obama replied, “the Conference of Catholic Bishops don't seem to be taking orders from me."

The president, who is seeking a grand bargain to offer amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants mostly from Latin America, highlighted the cardinal's birth in Argentina. "As the first pope from the Americas, his selection also speaks to the strength and vitality of a region that is increasingly shaping our world,” Obama wrote, “and alongside millions of Hispanic Americans, those of us in the United States share the joy of this historic day.”