Obama Meets the Pope at the Vatican, Exchanges Gifts

President Barack Obama met with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican today. According to MSNBC, President Obama and Pope Benedict XVI exchanged gifts, with the President presenting the Pope with a liturgical stole that for several years lay with St. John Neumann in Philadelphia. The Pontiff gifted Barack Obama with a mosaic of St. Peter's Square and Basilica, as well as an autographed copy of his Social Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate.

Barack Obama's Gift to the Pope: Did Obama learn to give better gifts?

Barack Obama may have finally given a proper gift to a foreign dignitary. A liturgical stole associated with St. John Neumann is an appropriate and thoughtful gift for the Pontiff. St. John Neumann, the fourth Bishop of Philadelphia, is a popular saint in Philadelphia. Miracles were attributed to St. John Neumann and eventually a cause for his sainthood was taken up with Rome. However, it wasn't until the 1920s that another Pope Benedict, Pope Benedict the XV, declared that he was venerable. It took another 50 years for St. John Neumann to reach full sainthood. The gift of a liturgical store associated with a miracle working Saint properly pays tribute to the Pope by acknowledging the depth of his Catholic faith in a manner that is not easily purchased off Amazon.com.

Obama administration's previous bad gifts

Back in March, very early in the Obama administration, Barack Obama met with Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown in Washington. At this meeting, gifts were exchanged, the British were a bit miffed at the cheap and ill-thought-out gift given to their Prime Minister. According to the Daily Mail, President Obama gave Gordon Brown a gift set comprising of 25 American Movies. Nevermind that Mr. Brown was not a movie buff, nor were they in the correct DVD format to play in his country. Gordon Brown, however, gave President Obama a gift with rife historical and personal meaning. He presented Obama with ornamental pen holder made from the timbers of a Victorian anti-slave ship, which was a fitting gift for our nation's first Black president that honored our president's heritage.

Not too long after the Gordon Brown gift gaffe, President Obama and his wife met the Queen of England at Buckingham Palace. The Obamas gave Her Majesty an iPod, which went over with the British press about as well as the DVD debacle. The iPod did contain video of the Queen's visit to the US in 2007. Her Majesty's gift was a standard gift given to foreign dignitaries comprising of a signed photograph of the Queen and her husband, Prince Phillip.

Sources:

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/07/10/1992463.aspxhttp://www.stjohnneumann.org/index.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1159627/To-special-friend-Gordon-25-DVDs-Obama-gives-Brown-set-classic-movies-Lets-hope-likes-Wizard-Oz.html
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyharnden/9355453/Barack_Obamas_gift_for_the_Queen_an_iPod_your_Majesty/
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html