ROME, Vatican City, June 13 (UPI) -- A Roman Catholic newspaper says President George W. Bush asked a Vatican official to help push American bishops on certain cultural issues.
Bush made the request during a June 4 meeting with Cardinal Angelo Sodano, after his meeting with the pope, the New York Times reported Sunday.
"Bush said, 'Not all the American bishops are with me' on the cultural issues, especially the battle against gay marriage,'" and asked for the Vatican's help in encouraging the U.S. bishops to be more outspoken," according to National Catholic Reporter. The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said, "It is just unprecedented for a president to ask for help from the Vatican to get re-elected, and that is exactly what this is."
However, some with Vatican experience were not shocked.
"Any head of state who goes to the Vatican will attempt to present a case," said Msgr. Lorenzo Albacete, who has served as a translator for Catholic officials with heads of state.
"But if it is done in a diplomatic way, that is why they go to the Vatican anyway," he said. "It is not an act of devotion. It is a political thing."
