Vatican City, May 8, 2009 / 03:02 am
In an article published this morning, Italian Vatican analyst Sandro Magister notes that, while L'Osservatore Romano has praised Barack Obama for his "moderation," two scholars from the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences have harshly criticized the U.S. President for his position on life issues.
In his article titled "Angel or Demon? At the Vatican, Obama is both," Magister explains that the divide between the "olympic calmness" of the Vatican newspaper in evaluating Obama's first 100 days and the "growing number of critics among lay people and bishops" in the U.S., has created a "stupor" in some Vatican dicasteries.
Unlike some U.S. analysts, who claim that there is no sign of animosity toward Obama in the Roman Curia, Magister says that, following the pro-Obama article of L'Osservatore Romano, the plenary meeting of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences has been a venue for sharp criticism against the U.S. President.
The meeting was held at the Vatican May 1 – 5.