Denver, Colo., Nov 8, 2008 / 22:41 pm
Vatican expert John Allen has written an open letter to President-elect Barack Obama discussing how the U.S. government and the Vatican may best interact under an Obama administration. Warning him not to repeat the Vatican-snubbing mistakes of the Clinton administration, Allen advised the future president that enormous good may result from U.S.-Vatican cooperation.
Writing in his column for the National Catholic Reporter, Allen said it is clear the Vatican and the Obama White House will have “deep differences” over issues such as abortion and embryonic stem cell research, Allen said these points must not obscure “basic political realities.”
While the United States is strong in terms of “hard power” like military and economic might, Allen noted the Vatican is a global actor in terms of “soft power,” being able to motivate people on the basis of ideas and religion.
Citing Obama’s narrow loss among white Catholics, Allen indicated that good relations with the Vatican could be “smart politics” for his party. Further, the Vatican has a “centuries-old” diplomatic tradition of dealing with governments which disagree with the Church on certain matters.