THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Rome, Italy)
For Immediate Release July 23, 2001
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BUSH
AND HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II
Papal Library
Castel Gandolfo
Rome, Italy
11:46 A.M. (L)
HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II: Mr. President, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you on your first visit since you
assumed the office of the President of the United States. I warmly greet the distinguished First Lady and the members of
your entourage. I express heart-felt good wishes that your presidency will strengthen your country in its commitment to
the principles which inspired American democracy from the beginning, and sustained the nation and its remarkable growth.
These principles remain as valid as ever as you face the challenges of the new country opening up before us.
Your nation's founders, conscious of the immense natural and human resources with which your land has been blessed by
the Creator, were guided by a profound sense of responsibility towards the common good to be pursued in respect for the
God-given dignity and inalienable rights of all. America continues to measure herself by the nobility of her founding
vision in building this society of liberty, equality and justice under the law. In the century which has just ended,
these same ideals inspired the American people to resist two totalitarian systems, based on an atheistic vision of man
and society.
At the beginning of this new century, which also marks the beginning of the third millennium of Christianity, the world
continues to look to America with hope. And it does so with an acute awareness of the crisis of values being experienced
in Western society, ever more insecure in the face of the ethical decisions, indispensable for humanity's future course.
In recent days, the world's attention has been focused on the process of globalization which has so greatly accelerated
in the past decade, and which you and other leaders of the industrialized nations have discussed in Genoa. While
appreciating the opportunities for economic growth and material prosperity, which this process offers, the Church cannot
but express profound concern that our world continues to be divided no longer by the former political and military
blocs, but by a tragic fault-line between those who can benefit from these opportunities and those who seem cut off from
them.
The revolution of freedom of which I spoke at the United Nations in 1995 must now be completed by a revolution of
opportunity, in which all the world's people actively contribute to the economic prosperity and share in its fruits.
This requires leadership by those nations whose religious and cultural traditions should make them most attentive to the
moral dimension of the issues involved.
Respect for human dignity and belief in the equal dignity of all the members of the human family demand policies aimed
at enabling all people to access to the means required to improve their lives, including the technological means and
skills needed for development. Respect for nature by everyone, a policy of openness to immigrants, the cancellation or
significant reduction of the debt of poorer nations, the promotion of peace through dialogue and negotiation, the
primacy of the rule of law; these are the priorities which the leaders of the developed countries cannot disregard. A
global world is essentially a world of solidarity. From this point of view, America, because of her many resources,
cultural traditions and religious values, has a special responsibility.
Respect for human dignity finds one of its highest expressions in religious freedom. This right is the first listed in
your nation's Bill of Rights, and it is significant that the promotion of religious freedom continues to be an important
goal of American policy in the international community. I want to express the appreciation of the whole Catholic Church
for America's commitment in this regard.
Another area in which political and moral choices have the gravest consequences for the future of civilization concerns
the most fundamental of human rights, the right to life itself. Experience is already showing how a tragic coarsening of
consciences accompanies the assault on innocent human life in the womb, leading to accommodation and acquiescence in the
face of other related evils, such as euthanasia, infanticide, and most recently, proposals for the creation for research
purposes of human embryos, destined to destruction in the process.
A free and virtuous society, which America aspires to be, must reject practices that devalue and violate human life at
any stage from conception until natural dead. In defending the right to life, in law and through a vibrant culture of
life, America can show a world the path to a truly humane future in which man remains the master, not the product of his
technology.
Mr. President, as you carry out the tasks of the high office which the American people have entrusted to you, I assure
you of a remembrance in my prayers. I am confident that under your leadership, your nation will continue to draw on its
heritage and resources to help build a world in which each member of the human family can flourish and live in a manner
worthy of his or her innate dignity. With these sentiments, I cordially invoke upon you and the beloved American people,
God's blessings of wisdom, strength and peace.
Thank you very much.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Your Holiness, thank you very much. Mrs. Bush and I are honored to stand with you today. We're grateful
for your welcome. You've been to America many times, and have spoken to vast crowds. You have met with four American
Presidents before me, including my father. In every visit, and in every meeting, including our meeting today, you have
reminded America that we have a special calling to promote justice and to defend the weak and suffering of the world. We
remember your words, and we will always do our best to remember our calling.
Since October of 1978, you have shown the world not only the splendor of truth, but also the power of truth to overcome
evil and to redirect the course of history. You have urged men and women of goodwill to take to their knees before God,
and to stand unafraid before tyrants. And this has added greatly to the momentum of freedom in our time.
Where there's oppression, you speak of human rights. Where there's poverty, you speak of justice and hope. Where
there's ancient hatred, you defend and display a tolerance that reaches beyond every boundary of race and nation and
belief. Where there's great abundance, you remind us that wealth must be matched with compassion and moral purpose. And
always, to all, you have carried the gospel of life, which welcomes the stranger and protects the weak and the innocent.
Every nation, including my own, benefits from hearing and heeding this message of conscience.
Above all, you have carried the message of the Gospel into 126 nations, and into the third millennium, always with
courage, and with confidence. You have brought the love of God into the lives of men, and that good news is needed in
every nation, and every age.
Thank you again, your Holiness, for your kindness, and the honor of this meeting.
END 11:59 A.M. EDT