Rome, Italy, Jun 6, 2004 / 22:00 pm
This Monday, Vatican observer Sandro Magister is publishing an analysis on the “realignment” of religious forces in the US, pointing out that the visit by President Bush to the Vatican came with a “gift:” an alliance between Catholics and Evangelicals on issues such as the defense of life and the family.
According to Magister, “A more relevant rapprochement is in an advanced stage between US Catholics and their most heated religious rivals: Evangelical Protestants.” “This rapprochement,” he adds, “is an absolute novelty in the history of the United States. And it has been consolidated precisely with the Bush presidency.”
Magister points out that a sign of this process is the meeting which took place a week before Bush met with the Pope, between religious leaders and the President, organized by Billy Graham’s “Christianity Today” magazine. “Among them were two heavy-weight Catholics: Deal Hudson, editor of “Crisis” magazine, and Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, editor of “First Things” magazine.
The meeting lasted two hours, and according to Magister, the impression was that Bush “has a simple and coherent vision of things, with strong religious tendencies.”