Expect a cordial meeting

The College of Holy Cross, Worcester, Mass., put out a press release yesterday, Juely 8, in which one of its faculty members, a papal expert anticipates the meeting on Friday between the pope and President Obama.

"Mathew Schmalz, associate professor of religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross and an expert in the Papacy and religion and politics, says this:

"Obama's meeting with the Pope is interesting given the protests that accompanied Obama's recent appearance at Notre Dame," he says. "I would expect that the pope will congratulate Obama on his historic election, and then emphasize themes in his most recent encyclical on the interrelationship between charity and social justice. I expect the meeting, through which Obama will continue his outreach to moderate and liberal Catholics among whom he still has much support, to be very cordial."