Inside President Trump's holy visit to the Vatican
Father Jonathan Morris on the president's visit with the Pope
No president has done what Donald Trump has done on his first foreign trip: traveling to the cradle of the three Abrahamic religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam-- and then on to Rome, the seat of Catholicism.
It was, for all intents and purposes, a religious pilgrimage, diving into what has become the source of a lot of global strife. But it was his meeting with Pope Francis that drew the most anticipation due to their previous "disagreements" over immigration, refugees, and the environment.
The meeting turned out not to be about Francis, the leader of 1.2 billion Catholics, taking the American president to the woodshed about building a wall or closing borders to refugees.
Diplomatically speaking, they met as equals – as Heads of State.
There is a huge clash of styles between the two men: the pope, a model of humility; and Trump, more of a showman-businessman combo.
But Francis is all about finding common ground. And while Trump is known for his “Art of the Deal," Francis has the divine calling for the Art of Persuasion. In that vein, a key exchange of the meeting was his gift to the president: copies of his three major writings.
The first is his encyclical, "Evangelii Gaudium" -- The Joy of the Gospel. This is about finding the core of Christianity. It's about real faith. It will speak to Francis' reason behind his statement, "No true Christian would build a wall."
Next is "Amoris Laetitia" -- The Joy of Love. This is about family, about sexual mores, divorce, communion and all those thorny issues the church is dealing with as the meaning of "family" in a secularized world has changed. The key here is that it is neither conservative nor liberal. It was Francis' unique way of speaking the truth in love.
And finally, "Laudato Si" -- On Care of Our Common Home. This is the major encyclical on the environment and climate change. It had a big release in 2015, with many seeing this as a central focus of Francis' papacy. It is an issue they may disagree on, but again, Francis is about persuasion. He's letting his writing do the talking.
President Trump said, "Well, I'll be reading them."
Most of the real diplomacy work took place during the president's brief meeting afterwards with the Vatican's Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and the Secretary for Relations with States Monsignor Paul Richard Gallagher.
Reports called them "cordial discussions" that included talks about a joint commitment in favor of life, freedom of worship, and freedom of conscience – all issues the Catholic Church is concerned about.
Now that the pope and the president have met face to face in this inaugural gathering, it will be interesting to see how they respond to each other's actions and words in the future.
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